help with RP6 setup

Listen to the 2m blue for awhile and save your money. You are going to get a lot of the benefits of the 2m and can get a good sense of how the rest of your system is going to integrate. You might get more impact out of a good matching set of interconnects or speaker cables. There will be plenty of time for cartridge experiments. Get a feel of what you have.

Ortofon MC-3 turbo and a double-sided suede leather mat sounds great on my RP6

Hello,the reason you use a phono pre amp is so you can use the direct line level input on any preamp. This way you bypass using (or having to use) the pre amp's phono input.I am not familiar with the rouge audio's phone input, you would have to be the judge. As for phono pre amps under $1000,there are way to many for me to list.They have solid state and tube ones from there you should check out which ones give the flexibility to use MM/MC carts. I have heard that MC carts are more detailed,the cost on these can get really crazy IMO.

The mc-3 turbo for $350 and a Jasmine LP 2.0 mkII phono stage for $499 plus shipping comes in under your $1000 limit and is a great combo with my RP6. The Jasmine is much better and more flexible than the Rouge stage.