There’s always the chase for the best design (: I see it as a journey, a fun one at that.
Eggbeaters are one good design, there’s a few variants like in the distance from the groundplane to the elements.
For some reason I fell into the QFH hole, I just got some 15mm (9/16) and planning a build of a VHF one.
Every one of these has it’s own drawbacks, properly managed they work quite well, one detail wrong can also make them fail.
Regarding LNA’s, there’s a bunch of them, different availabilities and price, find a good reputable source and experiment, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
well, have I been one, glad I could help.