Hi Davey, I don’t know the JLTI, but I think, yes, you may like a tube phono stage. I bought a used Aesthetix Io and never looked back - inserting it into my Krell s-state system....in fact it led me to invest in tube amps also. The Aesthetix brought out the best qualities in the Krell FPB600. Something else - and smaller than the Aesthetix Io (Rhea?) - may work well in your system.
I live in Norway, also quite peripheral, and sometimes I’ve gained a lot by just jumping into it, buying on A-gon for example, even if I have no chance to listen first. You need to do your research - what do users think of the combination you are considering. For what it is worth, my two pieces of advice is, 1) yes investment in cartridge and phono preamp is essential, and 2) tubes often (or to be honest: mostly) sound better. To my ears.
I live in Norway, also quite peripheral, and sometimes I’ve gained a lot by just jumping into it, buying on A-gon for example, even if I have no chance to listen first. You need to do your research - what do users think of the combination you are considering. For what it is worth, my two pieces of advice is, 1) yes investment in cartridge and phono preamp is essential, and 2) tubes often (or to be honest: mostly) sound better. To my ears.