My friend upgraded from the Rhea to the ASR Basis Exclusive. It is an utterly dead silent design, (probably partially due to its use of rechargable batteries, which recharge automatically when the unit is not in operation). It is very musical and it is made for balanced inputs, (in fact two of them, in case you happen to run more than one table/tonearm/cartridge). It has plenty of variable gain, and fully adjustable loading, (for both inputs). FYI, I have two other friends who also use the ASR Basis Exclusive.
If I were to upgrade from my Ayre K-1xe, (which I too run in balanced mode), I would probably go for the ASR Basis Exclusive, (mated with a ARC Ref. 3 line stage). A true reference phono stage, IMHO.
FYI, there are two models of this unit. A regular unit, (with the blue boards), which came out in 2006 and an upgraded unit, which came out last year. (All of my friends have upgraded to the 2010 unit, and say that it is slightly better than the 2006 unit.) Bought used, the 2006 unit is well within your budget, ($3-4K), and the 2010 unit is just barely within your budget, ($5K).
My two cents worth.
If I were to upgrade from my Ayre K-1xe, (which I too run in balanced mode), I would probably go for the ASR Basis Exclusive, (mated with a ARC Ref. 3 line stage). A true reference phono stage, IMHO.
FYI, there are two models of this unit. A regular unit, (with the blue boards), which came out in 2006 and an upgraded unit, which came out last year. (All of my friends have upgraded to the 2010 unit, and say that it is slightly better than the 2006 unit.) Bought used, the 2006 unit is well within your budget, ($3-4K), and the 2010 unit is just barely within your budget, ($5K).
My two cents worth.