Putting together first system... clueless.

Hello everyone, I've begun piecing together my first system, and I'm not really sure what to do in regards to the preamp. Vinyl is going to be the only source for the system.

The goals of the system are minimalism (as little as possible between the record and the speakers), and upgradeability. I figure, if I do it this way, can more easily learn about the differences in components and get a good feel for what I like and need, and upgrade accordingly.

It's a budget system and I should only spend about $3-4k for the entire system. The equipment I've bought so far is a Rega RP1 w/performance pack, and a Musical Fidelity VLPS-II. I think I'm gonna go with something from Magnepan for the speakers, so I've got maybe $1-2k left.

My question is this: Are there any recommendations for an extremely minimal preamp stage that is basically just 1 source in/out, with a volume control? If this equipment doesn't exist, is it much of a factor in this system if it's just a volume control? (As in, I could just make it myself with quality parts without introducing terrible sound?)