Totally untrue about an integrated will better any separates. If you limit yourself to $1000, possibly, but after that, going separates Will get you a better system.
To make recommendations, you really need to make some decisions.
You seem you are up int the air on phono, if you are, don’t get a turntable. I just sold my $14k analog setup and more than happy with my digital setup, which outperformed my analog setup. If you go strictly digital, for $8k, all you need is a network dac like the ps audio DS sr or even the jr, and the best amp you can find for the remaining $$$ of your budget. I go directly from my DS sr dac into my ps audio amp without needing a preamp (flexibility of owning separates). You can use any computer with a decent processor and 16G of ram to run Roon, and you will run Roon on your phone or iPad. Not all dacs can do this, they are either noisy or don’t have the ability to drive an amp, then you need to use a preamp.
when I sold my tt, I also eliminated using my McIntosh c47 preamp. Keep it simple.
To make recommendations, you really need to make some decisions.
You seem you are up int the air on phono, if you are, don’t get a turntable. I just sold my $14k analog setup and more than happy with my digital setup, which outperformed my analog setup. If you go strictly digital, for $8k, all you need is a network dac like the ps audio DS sr or even the jr, and the best amp you can find for the remaining $$$ of your budget. I go directly from my DS sr dac into my ps audio amp without needing a preamp (flexibility of owning separates). You can use any computer with a decent processor and 16G of ram to run Roon, and you will run Roon on your phone or iPad. Not all dacs can do this, they are either noisy or don’t have the ability to drive an amp, then you need to use a preamp.
when I sold my tt, I also eliminated using my McIntosh c47 preamp. Keep it simple.