Welcome to another reformed digi-phile, and kudo's to Albert for showing another music lover the way. Of course he doesn't really fight fair does he. Maybe he should buy a Meitner to be more evenhanded.
If you go with seperates you'll be paying for two chassis' and a pair of interconnects. That's a lot of excess hardware for a limited budget. I have to believe you'd get better sonic performance by putting all your dollars into a decent used tube preamp with internal phono stage.
A used c-j PV-10 can be had in your price range. A PV-11 (what I have) would go for a few hundred more. My system doesn't compare with Mr. Porter's, but there are still other components I'd upgrade before I'd trade my PV-11, even though it's the oldest component I own. It has given nothing but satisfaction since 1991. I believe an ARC would give similar satisfaction with a slightly leaner sound. Choose between them according to your taste.
If you go with seperates you'll be paying for two chassis' and a pair of interconnects. That's a lot of excess hardware for a limited budget. I have to believe you'd get better sonic performance by putting all your dollars into a decent used tube preamp with internal phono stage.
A used c-j PV-10 can be had in your price range. A PV-11 (what I have) would go for a few hundred more. My system doesn't compare with Mr. Porter's, but there are still other components I'd upgrade before I'd trade my PV-11, even though it's the oldest component I own. It has given nothing but satisfaction since 1991. I believe an ARC would give similar satisfaction with a slightly leaner sound. Choose between them according to your taste.