Preamp with near-reference quality built in phono?


First some background. About 6 months ago I decided that I want to get off of the continuous upgrade path, and plotted a 2-3 year course for purchasing high quality, reference or near-reference components. The first itch I satisfied was my digital source; I threw away all of my "budget" transports, DACs, upsamplers, digital cables, etc., and purchased a high-quality single-box machine that does a number of things well and has the most musical red book playback I have heard. I then turned my attention to analog. I have not finalized my choice of arm and cartridge, but my table is flexible enough to support many.

Here is my current dilemma: I currently want to upgrade my phono preamp to something that compliments the rest of my system a little better, and that is flexible enough to work with as I settle in on a cartridge/arm combo (for example MM and MC would be nice). Concomitantly, I have begun to wonder if my decision to go with a passive linestage was a good one for the long term. I have read the arguments both for and against the passive, and having tried mine in someone else's system, I have found that its performance can be grossly impacted by changes in surrounding components. So my question is this: does a full function preamp, with phono, exist where the built in phono stage is comparable to best of breed, stand alone phono preamps? Since this is a long-term project, budget is not a huge concern, although I would like to stay under $10k if possible.
sdatch
Coming very close to your goal would be the Aesthetix Janus full function preamp. Still not at the level of the Aesthetix separates, however. See Albert Porter's comments:
http://forum.audiogon.com//cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1060711017&openusid&zzAlbertporter&4&&

Some would argue that the Convergent Audio Technologies SL1 Ultimate also comes close to your mark.
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Rushton's suggestions are good ones. I would add the Jadis JP80MC and JP200MC (which you can get used for about $10K) to the list, their phono stages are top-notch, although with 2 and 4 chasis you might have space concerns. Superbly musical pieces of equipment that get out of the way of the music.
The Atma-Sphere MP-1 Mk. II, with latest power supply, is an excellent option that should not be overlooked.
Agree with Wellfed's recommendation of the Atma-Sphere MP-1 Mk.II. Be aware that, afaik, it is fully balanced end-to-end with no RCA jack inputs/outputs.
Don't forget Supratek! The Chenin, formerly Syrah, is a giant killer with a killer MC phono stage at $2900. If you want to spend more the next level up is the Cortese at about $5K. I can't imagine how good that must be given how fabulous my Syrah sounds. For more references check out the thread, "Preamp deal of the century" which has lots of info. Good luck and have fun!