Another possibility is a nice SP series ARC preamp with built in fet/tube phono. The last one I bought was $1250 with checkout by my favorite tech. add a stout but classic power amp - say a recapped Bryston, the Chord DAC and a Rega 3 table and you might get close to budget.
Friend needs advice for $8,000 system
My friend is starting out from scratch with an $8,000 budget. He listens to all sorts, but mainly indie rock. He's keen on the Magnepan .7 speakers and lives in a small apartment, so listening room about 4x3 metres. Don't worry about cables. We just need a power amp, a turntable, a cartridge, a phono stage, NOS tubes, and a DAC.
How do we achieve:
Truthful tonality/timbre
Truthful harmonics
Liquid sound
Transparency
Speed/Dynamics/Pace/Rhythm/Timing
Soundstage Coherence
All for $8,000 new.
Cheers!