Phono stages belong to which tier?

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?

Dear Perrew: Remember that the Essential 3160 is a Phonolinepreamp: phono stages + line stage.

The total gain in the Phono stage is 60db in two stages but this Phono stage signal must pass through the line stage where there is the additional gain the amplifier needs.
You can't run the Essential as a stand alone Phono stage.

The RIAA network is a passive RC one on Lipshitz two poles configuration.
If you need more specific info please email me.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.