Don’t know if it’s magic but here is where mine ended up. Virtual system posted here.
System Budget (% based on retail)
Source(cart, tt, phono pre) - 24%
Pre-amp, amp - 33%
Speakers - 28%
Cables, ICs, power condition - 15%
Did not include CD player and DAC as I am at least 95% vinyl and those were relatively small expenditures. Everything acquired over several years, new and used. Decisions were made on affordability of individual components, not a specific, overall system budget to start with. Percentages do not include a backup pre-amp, power amp, or cartridge, or NOS tubes. The general plan was to build a nice system over time, upgrading and enjoying music, selling existing components to afford new ones. This is how it ended up. For now. It is a journey. Have fun!