Price: $1600

Website: www.je-audio.com

Oliver said: I found that its combination of inherent musicality and a smooth, open midrange communicated the music in a way that reminded me of a good tube preamp. Furthermore, its low noise floor and compatibility with a wide swath of phono cartridges mean that it will work well in a variety of systems. I could live with the HP20 as part of my system, and contentedly, too.

Read the SoundStage! Hi-Fi review.

The gist: Midrange-centric phono stage is a good value, too.