Phono Stage

+1 effischer! Good advice!

Ortofon Cadenza Blue or with a little reach the Cadenza Bronze. 

Adding a phono stage would be superfluous.  The C2500 has the same phono stage as the C2300; the only difference in the 2500 is the DAC section Mc added as a sub-chassis.

As far as sound quality goes, the C2300/2500/2600 phono section is one of the very best out there at any price.  Harry Pearson had the C2300 version of it in his reference system for over a year, and he rarely kept pieces that long.  It features the ability to change both MC and MM load on the fly from the remote.  That's something very few other units can match.

My advice would be to take the $2K and put it toward a really good LOMC.  I'm a fan of Dynavector and the XX2 Mk II is in that range, but there are several other really fine LOMCs out there from Ortofon, Koetsu and others.  One of those with a really good alignment will open up a whole new world for you.

Good luck and happy listening!

I’ve heard good things about this phono stage ... and only $400:

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/vincent-audio-pho-8-phonostage-tas-211/

Someone burned me a CD of the Dean Martin 45 rpm recording of Dream With Dean using this phono stage and a DV 20X. Sounds surpurb on my system.

Frank

Money saved by not buying a JC3 could go towards a better mc cartridge.

I'm betting that the JC3 would be superior to any Mac phono stage! 

Does the C2500 have a phono stage? If yes then use it! No need then to spend more money! If not get a used Parasound JC3. This is the best choice per dollar!