Advice for a new analog system

@blisshifi Your assessment is seemingly available as a result of your first hand experiences of the devices. Your evaluation is that there is Sound being produced that has been not so impressive and impressive, there is a better experience to be found across devices for you at a closely shared price point, and even more, if the Value of a Particular Brands Device, that already impressed, is from a Model more expensive in the range.

I have experienced this on a few occasions whilst at  Phonostage Bake Off, where similar cost items are compared, there are Models that stand out as being much more impressive than another. A phon' that has won the most favour is moved onto the next increased in Value Demonstrations, it is surprising how certain more expensive models can leave a Phon' that has impressed sound quite wanting and not so attractive. Only experiencing these types of demonstrations and making ones own assessments, will there be a better understanding produced.  

It is this type of encounter that is being encouraged to the OP, to experience and process a evaluation and assessment.

Hopefully whilst doing the footwork, a discovery of a Presentation is met, that is satisfying and one wanted to be maintained or be built on.

Recommendations are immediate, but they are not encounters in a audible sense, where the end user has their chance to experience how a device impacts on them.  

Gold Note Mediterraneo with their phono stage and power supply.....

@pindac 100% agree. Unfortunately for us audiophiles, direct experience is unavailable for many brands and units, and most have to rely on the assessments and recommendations of others. As citizens of this community, it is in our best interest to be as helpful to each other as we can, and that is the intent of these discussions. But I agree, there is no better way to land on a decision other than hearing a component in your room and in your system.

@blisshifi The Holy Grail is today the Home Demo' in the Room used for the Set Up.

The next best is to have the demo' in Home where the Set Up and Room are familiar, and some of the Systems devices have been used in your own system.

There is enough on offer to get an extremely good feel for the Sonic of the device under the knife. 

Maybe you don't know that the top 6 tubes on the c1000 are part of an excellent built in phono stage: With whatever TT you choose, you might want to try that 1st before sinking $ into an external phono preamp. As far as choosing TT, You have to go listen. I use a Technics SL1210G with an Ortophon 2m Black with great results and no itch to add another preamp in the mix. If you do decide on adding a preamp, I would think that would consider the 1100 matching phono preamp. It would have been designed by the same design team that worked on C1100. Thus, keeping the true McIntosh sound from source to speakers.