Phono stages belong to which tier?


I feel the phono stage is the most critical component in an analog system since it is an important part of the source. Which phono stages have you heard and in which tier would they fall in 1st 2nd or 3rd?
From reading the threads here: aesthetix, manley, lamm, fm acoustics, einstein would probably fall in the 1st.
Please include stages that have been listened to extensively and those that have been heard breifly.
pedrillo
Dear Pedrillo: I don't know what precise information you are looking for in your thread and these are my thoughts on your last post.

The units you name it ( in that list ) are good units but totally different between each other as is its each one quality performance level: you have stand alone Phono stages, Phonolinepreamps, tube units, SS units, hybrid units, high gain active units, Low gain+SUT units, fully balanced designs, unbalanced designs even a non discrete design like the ASR that uses IC's(chips/opamps ), etc, etc.

With all these " variety " where each one unit has its own advantages and disadvantages and with other units that are very good but not name it in the thread I wonder: which kind of precise conclusions could you obtain other that put names in a list?

Maybe I'm wrong but, please if you can try to explain your thread thoughts about, maybe I'm missing something.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.
Raul,
Thanks for asking.
I am about to make a purchase of a phono stage therefore I am creating a list of what others have considered as the best.
Thank you to all for sharing your experiences.
Raul,

how many stages do you have in the essential and how much gain and what type of RIAA network do you employ? I didnt see that info on your system.
Tks
Par
Dear Perrew: Two independent stages configured as need it: 2MC, 2MM and MC/MM.

For LOMC cartridges: 60 db and 54db in the phono stage and overall you can have what you need: 75-80-90 db. The phono stages gain comes in two gain stages, either MC and MM.

The RIAA is a passive network.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.
Raul,

thank you for answering. When you say I can have 80dB and you have 60dB from the phono stage with two stages, I suppose you have the RIAA sandwiched between the two, does that mean you have another stage for the pre or could you bypass this to just have two stages in total. Then max gain would be 60dB.
Also what type of network you use for the RIAA, a regular RC?