Phono stage question

The real question is " WTF is going on here?

If you step over the line and become an audiophile then all the rules upon which you base your life. . . change. 

Audiophilism  is like drugs. And a cult.  Both are a chase of a better illusion, a more profound deception of your senses, and it feels GREAT when it happens  ! ! !

Because your mind habituates to the current reality, the search is for the next best eargasm is constant in your life.  You are a critic of everything you know, and a slave to what is the next incredible sonic experience you know you will have.

So what's wrong here is the same thing my cat says to me when I buy cheap cat-nip. The idea is can you pay too much to makes you happy?  

Wake up, it's only money while audio is life.

I have to agree with MC the Decware ZP3 phono preamp is a great bargain and great sounding, and for another $900.00 you can get the ZMC 1,2, or 3 for MC cartridges. with this set up you will not need any other phono preamp.

Try a tavish design classic or vintage, both under a grand and both are tubed. Made in the US. They both have mm/mc, however I'm using a Jensen step up transformer and the mm section of the tavish classic. Cartridge is the Hana el. 

Vertere Acoustics solid state Phono-1 is $1,000 or so.... Well worth investigating and consideration.

I would personally try rolling tubes in the phono section first. I recently bought a Tavish phono pre, and I love it. It’s got lots of loading options and two 12AX7’s (one 5751) and one 12AU7. Another option that I’m curious about that might be worth looking into is the new EAT phono pre. It’s a bit over your budget at $1,500 or so, but it’s got so many loading options, including capacitance for MM carts. Good luck to you whatever you decide to do though. :)