For the phono preamp, save some money and pick up the battery powered model that Radio Shack was selling for $25. Rechargable batteries and a charger should run another $25. Much better sounding than any of the budget preamps you are considering, though it only works with high output cartridges. If it is out of stock, there is a guy on Ebay selling them with a $20 buy it now. The model # is 42-2111 (in Canada) and I forget the US designation. It only has around 38 dB of gain, but being so quiet (DC operated) this should not be a problem as long as you run it through an active preamp line stage (not a passive one), just turn the volume a bit higher. It is called the "little rat" in the Audio Asylum forum and you will find a number of comparisons there. Far from SOTA but very musical and again as good as any $200 phono preamp that I have heard. This way you can put more money into the TT.
What Budget turntable should I buy?
I'm just getting back into analog and would like to add a turntable. I have a NAD C350/540 combo running through Paradigm Mini-Monitors. I also hope to add a sub soon. I have $500-$600 budget. I also need to pick up a phono preamp. According to all the press - I am considering the following. NAD 533, Music Hall MMF-5 or even the MMF 2.1. For preamps the NAD PP-1, Creek OBH-8 or Parasound PPH-100. I listen mainly to Jazz with some classical. Any recommendations??