I am looking to upgrade - looking for advice


So I am the guy who recently asked if a Rotel 1572 preamp would work with a Parasound A21+ amp. So I was asking because I was thinking of upgrading my current amp which is a Rotel 1552. The rest of my system is Yamaha CD player and project turntable (both approx $400 each), Bluesound Node, and B&W 705 S2 speakers. Right now I primarily stream my music through the node. So I was interested in the next step to improvement and I thought it would be what the amplifier. After reading some of the posts on my original question (would the A21 work well with my Rotel preamp I am now thinking that I need to look at both the preamp and amp. Of course that is you agree with my assessment. Here are a few of the amps I was looking at: A21, Vincent  SP-332, and Bryson 3b3. The preamps that were suggested all look outstanding: Benchmark LA4, Backert Labs Rhumba 1.3 and the Audionet Pre 1 G3. It looks like with these I would need to also get a DAC, not sure about the phono stage. Any advice is appreciated. I am knee to this.

tjraubacher

So If I buy a phono stage piece of equipment can that plug in directly to Hegel analog input

I know my Project turntable is a weak link. What turntables would you recommend in the $500 - $1000 range

Just keep your Project TT nothing wrong with it. Maybe a cartridge upgrade. 

So If I buy a phono stage piece of equipment can that plug in directly to Hegel analog input

yes, any of them.

I know my Project turntable is a weak link.  What turntables would you recommend in the $500 - $1000 range

your Pro-ject is already in the $500 range. You could upgrade the cartridge. I think their tonearms are really good and the rest is OK. I had an mmf and there is an Evo Carbon in the family and no complaints. I have searched a lot in the 500-1000 range and ended up with a slightly used Rega P3 which was a meaningful upgrade. Other than that, the $1000 range TT is the most argued subject here.