Elizabeth makes an excellent point. Around the time that CD's were annoited the "perfect" replacement for vinyl lots of manufactureres started treating phono preamp sections as an after thought.
Separates w/internal phono vs Integrated + phono
Given the same amount of money say $8-10k what is the better way to go? Separates with an internal phono or an integrated with a stand alone phono? Anyone done reasonable comparisons, is it just trade offs or is there a clear winner? A really good phono can make a huge difference but can it fully shine through an integrated?