Separates or not?

The biggest bang for the buck is an integrated and phono stage. But that ship has sailed. Oh well. Let me try and throw you a line. 

The Decware ZP3 with SUT will run about $2k. Together with their pre-amp you will slide in just under $4k. Brand new. Lifetime warranty.  https://www.decware.com/newsite/tubes.html

Integrated amp? Yeah, that ship sailed for me in the early 80s and I eagerly wished it goodbye.  Maybe if I had a tiny room  but that won't happen.

I have a couple SUTs, but IMHO, a good active stage can perform better.

Thanks for the Decaware suggestion.  The preamp looks interesting.

New, Decware and a 6 month wait.. I know I'm waiting..

It's all nice, just the wait. Man oh man.. I ordered in early November.
They haven't pulled parts yet.. After parts are pulled 6 weeks.

I want my phono/tape stage. :-)

Regards

Since you have a Bryston amp get the Bryston .5 preamp listed now on eBay - $600 + shipping. I have the same combination. Bryston has an excellent reputation for standing behind their products. For use with your LOMCs you can get the Bellari SUT ($350). I have one in use with a Denon 103R. Excellent and USA-made!

@oldhvymec2, Yeah I hear you. I ordered the Maggies in mid November and they just came in last week. First, I don’t think I want to wait that long and second, I haven’t yet decided whether I want to go with tubes. I’ve owned both tube and SS, and I have a decision to make if I want to put up with the hassle of tubes again.

@ jasonbourne52

I like Bryston stuff, but the .5 is way too old a design for me.  I'm looking for something current or at least from within the last few years if I do go used.

   "...I haven’t yet decided whether I want to go with tubes..."

I run my Maggie .7s with tubes but the 1.7 is a different animal. I'd use the Bryston and the pre-amp of your choice.    

Thanks to everyone who answered, but to nudge this towards getting back on track, I'm redoing my preamplification.

Given a budget of $4k give or take, can I get better bang for the buck with a separate phono preamp and line level preamp or with a preamp with built in phono stage.

Keep your phono preamp as a separate device. More flexibility.

Any descent preamp will do fine. Don’t blow too much $. Parasound p3 or P5 used is all you need,
a great preamp!

You might want to consider the Aesthetix Pallene with it's internal phono card. TAS just reviewed the phono card in the Aesthetix Mimas integrated amp and gave it a great review. The Pallene is their new preamp that is essentially the preamp section of the Mimas. I believe the retail cost with the phono card is $5,250. Over your budget I know but you may be able to get a discount from a dealer. If you are on the east coast you should talk to John Rutan at the Audio Connection in Verona, NJ. John can answer any questions about this preamp and I know he has sold quite a few of them already.

BTW, Aesthetix has not added the Pallene to their website yet but it looks exactly like the Mimas. Good Luck!

You will get better performance with separates unquestionably.  It is uncommon to find a great preamp with a built in phono stage.  That being said, there are some great units that will perform well and have very good phono stages.  

This is a pain because of the wait, but AVM PA30.3 has an awesome feature set and is going to be a strong value at $2895 or $2995.  I already have preorders for this thing.  Expectation is March April for delivery.  It has been available for a while in Europe.  Best part is this will have variable outputs for easy amp matching.  I can't speak to the quality of the phono stage yet but I would expect it to be good based on the strength of AVMs cards in the PA5.2.

Check out the Bel Canto e.One Pre5 ($2295) and the Bel Canto e.One Phono ($1495).  These two units will be on budget, take up the space of one component, but are in two separate Chassis.

You need to dig into whether the output will match with your Bryston but the Rogue RP5 is an awesome preamp with a good phono stage built in at $3500.  I spent a lot of time listening to it with a Rogue Medusa amp and B&W speakers.  

The NAD M12 is largely digital centric but has a decent phono stage in it.  At $3899 in is on budget and has great functionality.  I am not sure if I would take this over the others but it is an option worth exploring.  

All four of these are safe, well-made brands with good product support.  I am an AVM and NAD dealer, I am currently vetting Bel Canto and have no affiliation with Rogue.