In my system I had a little different results with the Ayre and Sim phonos. Using the Ayre K-1xe preamp and Ayre amp with Thiel speakers. I found the Ayre to be on the dry side and a little thin compared to the Sim. It also was not as quiet.
I never could get rid of the noise problem with the Arye, but at the time was only able to run it SE in and balanced out. The noise more than the sonics was the reason for selling it. I have now moved to the BAT VK-P10 and i am running it balanced both in and out.
I used the Simaudio LP5.3 with and without the PSX5.3 power supply with the XX2 MKII for over two years. Tried several others during that time but seemed to always keep (prefer) the Sim. Lots of detail with slight warmth. Big soundstage Lots of options, quiet, XLR & RCA outputs. Used you should be able to get both the phonostage and upgraded power supply in your budget.
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