Recommended phono stage to go with McIntosh

@knollbrent

I enjoy vinyl also and that is all I listen to. I missed the boat on the whole streaming thing, so I just stick to records.

is the Lehmann the weak link because you think it is compared to everything else in the system ?   being new to vinyl, how would you know its the weak link unless you have had something to compare it to ?

are you buying new vinyl or shopping for used as well ?

Regarding the Herron. It's a tuber and my preamp is tubes. Too many tubes? 

@knollbrent 

only issue with most of the system being tubes is when a tube goes out, so would make sure that you have spares on hand for each piece.

Copy that @riley804 . Great advice

After trying out a budget phono stage that wasn't up to the rest of my system, I traded it in to upgrade to a Luxman E-250. The Luxman retails for $2300, so it is within your budget. The Luxman took a couple weeks of intense break-in to really open up.  In fact its sound developed so demonstrably that I had to change footers once it's high end and soundstage opened up.  Been buying vinyl again.  Great detail but with a smoothness of texture.  Enjoying Supertramp as I write this.

One interesting feature for MC cartridge users is the "Articulator" which after switching on for about 30 seconds, demagnetizes the coils in the cartridge.  It does open up the high end and yield more dynamic jump to the sound.  Cool.