High Value Phono Stages

Pindac, I fully agree that DIY designs can exceed commercially available designs, for fewer bucks.  What I have done historically is to buy very good commercial designs and then experiment using my own painfully developed and always developing expertise to make them better.  Mostly because building from scratch is quite tedious, and I don’t have the time for it.  I spent a few decades studying the subject before engaging in such ventures, and I still to this day am loathe to mess around with the RIAA filter. So my question is, where do you expect the average guy among us to find the skill to "DIY" or where to find the private individual who has the expertise to do it for you?  (You apparently know such individuals in the UK, but here in the US they are rare birds and are slowly dying off as well.) And such persons do not usually want to work for free and never work to a time clock.  Before I got into actual DIM (Do IT Myself), I once lost use of an MFA Luminescence preamp for nearly a year while I waited for a private hobbyist to upgrade it. By the time I got it back, I had totally forgotten how it sounded beforehand and so could not say really whether it was improved.

@lewm  Your assessment is correct, and should be a encouragement to others to investigate not pursue.

The pursuit becomes most likely when confidence is in place that relied upon support has the capability to deliver what is one's expectation. 

I have not produced any electronic products from my own hands, but have been instrumental in what is a received as an End Design for a Phon', produced by others for me.

I know today, using the Branded Item commercial markets as a reference, I would not be willing to extend to the expense that is required as a retail price to acquire what I have achieved as a Bespoke Design - Commission Built purchase option.

My latest acquisition being a SS Phon' which is to be picked up early in the New Year will require a huge outlay in monies to get Branded Model that is a design that presents as a fair comparison or betterment.

I stand strong in my making known options that can be considered, investigated, and maybe realised by those interested in Audio. 

For the record, a DAC produced under very similar methods to the owned Phon's, is a reference DAC used within the local HiFi Group. 

In comparisons it has proved as a performer near parity,  or more attractive, when compared to Branded Model DAC'sthatsome have been costing between 10x to 30 x more. 

2nd the Moonriver 505 phono stage...sounds so good with a Hana Uma Red cartridge!

You are getting as many recommendations as you are posts. So I might as well throw my favorite reasonably priced phono stage out there. This one has slayed not one but two 5k+ preamps. It can usually be had under 2K at most retailers. It’s a screaming deal if found on the used market like I did.
 

SPL Phonos

If you want the smallest footprint that can have the shortest possible interconnect then the Benz Micro PP-1  VerT9 is the best thing I have heard like that. High gain, low noise and if you can do the super short phono cable it is an enormous benefit.