The phono stage will make a *huge* difference in tonality. To say that they all sound similar would just be wrong, because they don't.

The one on the RR2150 is excellent, and you'd have to spend around a grand to do better. It's unbelievable.

It's very resolving, very flat frequency wise, and has resolution out the kazoo. I have 3 stand-alone phono preamps, and this is something really special.