Pre/Pro's without Phono input

Looking around for some new A/V equipment I thought I'd finally made up my mind for the Rotel RSP-1066 and RMB-1075 to start with. Only a few days ago I found out that my +3000 euro investment wouldn't even allow me to connect my old and beloved turntable!

First I couldn't believe this because everyone pretended that a pre/pro was the 'nec plus ultra' concerning connectivity. So now I have to convince my wife I need another 250 euro for the RQ 970 BX phono pre/pro which looks like sh** compared to the new Rotel silver/black style. AND I have to add another 650 euro for a commodity like an RDS tuner.

My question is : Would it be wise to look for another solution and to go and buy a receiver like the Denon 1803 which will give me : a tuner, a phono input AND an amplifier part for the 2 back surround channels? Would this make sense? Because almost no threads deal with this issue, I wonder if I'm maybe wrong or missing someting. Maybe the Anthem AVM20 would be a better choice after all, at least the tuner is included... Pitty it's almost impossible to find in Europe. (they didn't even respond to my question for dealers)

Any advice from the more experienced 'seperate' guys (and girls) would be much appreciated!

 

Too be honest if your looking at stuff like the built in Denon and Yamaha Phono stages you'd be just as well getting whatever you want and then using something like the Project phono stage (£40) or NAD phono stage (£40), these should be as good if not better than most the built in stages (OK you need a bit more cable).

The Rotel RQ should be a big upgrade over the built in phono stages.

Hope that helps a bit.