VAC 30/70...pick your pre?

Excellent comments by the others.

A caveat regarding the possibility you mentioned of combining a CJ ET3 with the VAC amps. Like many CJ preamps the ET3 has very high line stage gain, 25 db in this case. My perception has been that the unspecified gain of my VAC 70/70 is also somewhat high, especially in its zero feedback setting which I and most others seem to prefer (although that will be speaker-dependent). And I would presume the 30/70 is similar in that respect. While I suspect that the resulting overall gain would be ok with your vinyl source and 87 db speakers, you mentioned that you are considering eventually adding a digital source, and upgrading your speakers. The combination of a digital source, higher efficiency speakers, and the high gains of those two components would be likely to result in having to use the volume control on the CJ preamp undesirably close to the bottom of its range.

I’ll mention also that for a few years I used a Classe CP-60 solid state line stage preamp with my VAC 70/70, and I was happy with the combo. I purchased the CP-60 here in 2008 for only $1350.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Thanks Al, was worried about that too with a pre like the et3.  The digital system will be completely separate and my current speakers will go with that (possibly even solid state).  

Decisions decisions...esp hearing such good things about LM

Phaun16,
You have an excellent list of worthy choices. When I factor in the variables I’d give a "slight " preference towardthe LM 508ia.
1 It can meet your budget purchased new, this means a warranty (not insignificant).
2 Feedback from owners on various sites has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
3 Its U,S. Distributor is very stable and highly regarded, Tone Audio.
4 45 watts of SET class A power well implemented should sound sublime with the right speaker match.
5 Line Magnetic has earned a reputation for using high quality output transformers and power supplies (keys to SET amplifier success).
6  Tube upgrades make this fine Aamplifier perform even better. 
Charles

Don’t know if getting a sub 2k pre would do them justice (CJ ET3, etc). So they could be waiting for 6-12 months to pair up.

Well, to be fair, I'm not sure that the rest of your system would do justice for those VAC 30/70 amps either.

Your system, as listed, looks like a nice, balanced entry level system.
I'm don't think that dropping a pair of VAC 30/70 mono-block amps into that system would ever be doing justice without upgrading your analog front end, speakers, preamp, phono preamp, etc.

 You may be best to stay with an integrated amp at this point in time.
I would think that you may want an amp with more power, since your Wharfedale speakers are not an easy load.
I'm surprised that you are driving them with your Melody SP3 (38 wpc).

Do you have a small room, and/or listen at low levels? I see that Wharfedale recommends 50-200 wpc for their Jade 5 speakers.

Perhaps the Allnic T2000 may have enough drive for those speakers.
However, even that may be too much amp for your system.

IMHO, a well balanced system, like you have right now, works best.
Dropping one "much better" component into a system, whether it is speakers, amp, cartridge, phono, etc. won't raise the level all that much.

Unless you are ready to start moving up a level with the rest of your system, your best move might be to just look at a PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium HP Integrated. About half the price of the Allnic T2000, but still a very nice step up above your Melody integrated amp.

Offering up to 96 wpc using KT150 tubes, it should be more suitable to drive your Wharfedale jade 5 speakers too.

Well reasoned critique from John. However in my personal experiences I've heard good amplifiers significantly improve the sound of an audio system.  So I have a somewhat different take compared to John in this case. My suspicion is that the LM 805 tubed SET would in fact be a very viable upgrade with immediate improvement and one that could be built around in the future. 

Based on owner feedback with a variety of speakers I believe that the 508ia would work very well with the Whafedales IMHO. 
Charles