Whest, Sutherland, Heed, PS Audio or others


I am looking for suggestions to replace my Sutherland KC Vibe. 1 to 2 grand used or new. For my Benz SL cartridge or other moving coil low output cartridges. My system consists of Lamm 2.1 deluxe pre, VTL st150 amp and Vandy 2 sig3 speakers. I am also in the market for a turntable but think I have decided on a Rega p3 rs. 

dpm2340

I went from a KC Vibe to a Sutherland TZ Vibe.  I'm using a Hana ML moving coil cartridge.  It was a significant improvement and not crazy expensive.

 

My TT is a Marantz TT -15S1.   Pretty nice for the money.  

Thanks, The TZ Vibe is on my list. The Insight with LPS is also on my list. I was thinking about the Hana cartridge also.

I upgraded from KC Vibe Mk2 to Sutherland 20/20 Mk2 LPS. I was running Hana ML. 20/20 is a nice step up from the Vibe 2. 
I also used my buddy’s McIntosh MP100 which I really liked. It’s very musical and sweet sounding phono. Ended up with Whest Two.2 that I recently upgraded to 30 RDT SE. 

You can’t go wrong with any of the 3. Whest is quieter, more dynamic, more neutral and exciting sounding than the slightly polite Sutherland and doesn’t have the coloration that McIntosh gives you. If you value low noise floor, very low surface noise and transparency, go Whest. You can find a used Two.2 Discrete that’s an upgrade from the base version that I had. Email Whest. James is great to work with.

i’m very happy with my Whest PS.30 RDT SE running Hana Umami Blue now

@dpm2340 keep in mind that the transimpedance phono stages limit you to low output moving coil cartridges only. It may be tough to resell as well because of this same limitation. If you want to stick with Sutherland I’d wait for a used 20/20 Mk2. 

@audphile1 I've been looking at Sutherland's phono stages as well and have similar thoughts about the TZ models.  I'm not sure I'd want to limit my cartridge choices due to the TZ design.  A 20/20 or something similar would probably be the option I'd go for.

Back to the OP's question, I haven't heard any of the Graham Slee phono stages yet, but they seem to get a lot of love.  Another alternative might be a used Parasound JC Jr. or JC3+.