Sonic Frontier Line 3 vs McIntosh C2500

fijunc I would say it's probably a better allocation to go the upgrade route, the preamp you have is well made with a robust power supply. And upgrade and refresh of older parts after 15 years may be a bit of a revelation soundwise, and I don't know that the McIntosh would be that much of an improvement. Either way good luck and happy listening and to answer your earlier question you would connect the Chinook to a line level input and not a phono input.

@fjjunc please would love to see before and after pics thanks!

But take some pictures for us! :-)