I am a fan of solid state electronics so you may want to discount my response. Early last year i was in the market at about the same price range as you.
After a long drawn out search I ended up with a Pass Labs Aleph Ono which had just been upgraded. I was leary about it since I was not very familiar with it, but I consider it to be one of the best purchases I made. I wrote a review of it if you are interested. Even if I had more money to spend on another phono stage I don't think I would do it now.
Good luck.
After a long drawn out search I ended up with a Pass Labs Aleph Ono which had just been upgraded. I was leary about it since I was not very familiar with it, but I consider it to be one of the best purchases I made. I wrote a review of it if you are interested. Even if I had more money to spend on another phono stage I don't think I would do it now.
Good luck.