For the kind of money you are budgeting, I would consider a moving magnet cartridge, although there are some MC cartridges available for under $1000 that are quite nice. You can see though that this does not leave you with much of a budget for a preamp if you spent $1K on a cartridge!
The Denon 103r or variants are relatively affordable and actually have stellar performance. That would allow you to spend about $2500 or slightly more on a preamp.
*** manufacturer disclaimer warning: ***
FWIW we just introduced a LOMC capable preamp in this price range.
The Denon 103r or variants are relatively affordable and actually have stellar performance. That would allow you to spend about $2500 or slightly more on a preamp.
*** manufacturer disclaimer warning: ***
FWIW we just introduced a LOMC capable preamp in this price range.