Money well spent

Don't forget that price for the Vac would be roughly Less 25%
since its in Canadian funds.

Ya its like 9k ish shipped and has a great phono section low mc ready . Probly the best intergrated amp around for the bucks .. It would be at home in almost any system regardless of price .  A dream amp for me , maybe next yr somebody is gonna be seriously happy 

If you put your analog front end upgrade on hold and sell your current amp, how much would it cost you compared to what you are going to do? Yes, you may never want or need to upgrade that VAC. Except for tubes.

Not much more really but it would be all at once instead of over time . I just feel like the time is not right for that big of a plunge for me . Oh i do love it , there are few amps at any price that are " better" as of now a cple k towards a cart this fall is in my wheelhouse . I will have a ref vac eventually i could sell one of my guitars but i dont go backwards in life anymore by choice atleast lol

I see. Yeah, it would not be in steps. Backwards - no, in a little more complicated way - perhaps.