Rouge Audio RP-7

@ghdprentice thank you for your candor & recommendation

Audio Research is no joke. May have a hard time finding one in the same price range as rp7...

I have no experience with Rogue, but my ARC Classic 60 and SP 9 Mk lll are in for their first service in 30+ years. I thought they were expensive when purchased, what runs this long and sounds so good???? Pretty good investment IMHO.

A LS series ARC is what you need at your budget and liking your existing phono. Or an Aesthetix. A Ref 3 can be had around $3.5-4 k and is a Bad A linesrage.

I have a lot of respect for Rogue, excellent gear engineering and support. Tge Apollo Dark Mono punch far above $$$$$.

I have their Ares Magnum Phono preamp. It is amazing. 

Contact Robin Wyatt as he is a Rogue Rep, is good friends with the product designer and knows the products inside and out.

I've owned two Rogue pre amps.Never any issues. I have an rp100 at present and have no desire to replace it ever.The remote is cheesy for sure:-)The performance is excellent though.