I had a Gryphon DIablo 300 that sounded amazing. You can find them occasionally here with the phono-stage module in your price range used. I did upgrade from there and sold mine for about $9500. I did compare it to a lot of other integrated amps - McIntosh - Hagel - Acuphase - Luxman - Moon. The only amp that sounded better to me was an Audio Research amp that I bought in the end. The Gryphon was tight - iron gripped - nuanced with a LOT of power..... I was driving a pair of Sonus Faber Serafino's at the time.
Good Luck...!