TT and phono preamp - what best match for my system

@oberoniaomnia 
Re the additional investment I need to be aware of for vinyl, this is a great point and frankly i sort of overlooked it.. hmm

Re subs, yeah i've gotten over the need for earth rattling output from addition of a sub. I have had an SVS SB2000 for years now and pretty unimpressed with it's sloppiness so i want to tighten up the bass and make it seem like part of the mains versus a sloppy add on to feel explosions in movies. I'm over that at this point. 

@ghdprentice excellent analysis, ty. At this point I think I am hearing two things from this forum overall, a fork in approach which you first pointed out:
a) if you want to go anolog you may need to go up in quality from the P6RS (to either Rega P8 or possibly other brands.. Technics 1200G mentioned by @jasonboure71.  When doing this, dont' go to analog because you want better resolution, do it because you want to get into Vinyl...
b) upgrade digital channel.. I have been researching what pairing might make sense.  Your recommendation of the Aurender N20 being a streamer leaves my DAC in question which also may need to be upgraded. What does the thread think of a combination of a Lumin U1 Mini streamer + Holo May FTE DAC?
 

If you think that you are going to abandon vinyl for a digital upgrade. Then may I suggest this https://share.google/kpDix96fEi2C48TQ6 look 👀 for used products from this company for great value. https://www.audiogon.com/listings?q=innuos&srsltid=AfmBOorJPYgXJOC5YW4YANYX-9rP-0ew1FsDmFmmAEJ0AZvNksp2AZSH  
 I have a Pulse and that is a great deal https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisbia3i-innuos-pulse-music-servers-docks#&gid=1&pid=1 

good luck 🍀 in your journey. 

Think Short, and Long.

1. Prove you will stick with LPs?

You may be different, but for some I suggest they get a decent player and cartridge to prove they will in fact like and stick with Vinyl. Proven: use that in a 2nd system (or sell or give it away) and upgrade. You will have learned a lot by then. You will understand advice more clearly also.

If this makes sense to you, let us know, there are different ’starter’ ’prove it’ choices.

2. Stereo AND Mono LPs

i.e. Do you listen to Jazz? If so, then you will get/want many Mono LPs (prior to 1958) when so many great musicians were making their marks. Recording techniques were already excellent.

I learned here, and it proved true: a Mono LP played with a true Mono cartridge can sound a little, a lot, a whole lot better than playing with a Stereo Cartridge with your preamp in Mono Mode (if it has that).

Thus, you need a method of changing to a Mono cartridge: either an arm with a removable headshell (like Technics and others) or even better, Two Tonearms, one ready to go in seconds for mono in a listening session. Few start with that, but, get hooked, you might get there.

Or, if you have room for two TTs, keep your starter system ready to go for Mono and add the upgraded TT for primary Stereo.

3. Cartridge Varieties

Like many of us, you might want a small collection of alternate cartridges: MM Moving Magnet; MC Moving Coil; Stereo; Mono; New; Vintage Used; 

Rega and many others have fixed cartridges, that prohibits easy change.

4. Cartridge Mounting/Alignment/Calibration Tools and Skills

If/when you stick with it, and you want to or wear your initial cartridge’s stylus out: someone will need to mount/align/calibrate the replacement stylus.

IF you start with a pre-mounted MM cartridge, with user replaceable stylus, you simply pull the worn stylus out of the cartridge body and install the replacement (perhaps upgraded) stylus into the body which remains mounted/aligned, all you need to do is calibrate it.

A dealer, friend, yourself. I highly encourage buying the inexpensive tools and acquiring the skills yourself.

Now, let’s go back to step 1. Makes sense to me to prove you will stick with it.

@trebuchet Re sub, I have not heard many subs, so don't know whether REL is much better than SVS. When I first got the REL, I could not dial it in and it sounded horrible, so the sub sat around for a year or so. Only on second attempt and playing a lot with cross over frequency and volume (a little bit also placement), could I make it enjoyable. The key is that you should not hear the sub as a distinctive element when it is on. Rather, turning it off should make your main speakers loose some bass extension. The SVS could be perfectly fine, it may just need to be adjusted.

Consider sub-bass like salt in good cooking. You don't taste salt in a dish, but the food is more bland if it is missing.

I also have a Rega, a Naia. I have no problems with single cartridge. I don't listen to older music and don't have a single mono record. I have a couple of decent carts sitting around, but have not felt the urge of switching them out. Same with previous VPI. Just ordered a Fluance RT87 for a desktop computer system. That one has detachable headshells, but the new version is not available yet (sigh). 

I am a bit more into music than gear. In my book, recordings sound more different than equipment. Put a different record on, and the amount of difference in sound vastly exceeds any equipment differences. Yes, a bit tongue in cheek, but not entirely wrong either. I absolutely like decent equipment, but I am more of a set-it-and-forget-it type.