Best under $500 phono preamp w/ Shure V15VxMR


After finally resolving a difficult TT issue, which amounted to essentially replacing my entire system, I now enjoy music through an Arcam A80 with the factory installed phono stage and a nice new Pro-ject Perspective III that has the acrylic platter. The Shure is properly mounted (a new one too) and I have new B&W speakers. My most frightening moment was first hearing the phono stage itself; it is a bit noisy and needed a lot of break-in time, and I feel it is still not quite there. This leads me to this: I do archiving of my LP collection onto CD and I feel the Arcam phono stage is not up to par for straight archival use. It has a coloration of the sound that is best described as: reserved in the upper most harmonics while being overly lush, not a bad thing but not neutral to my ears. I loved my Yamaha RX-596 phono stage (neutral, straightforward and very detailed), but I don't see the point keeping it just for a phono stage. While my old TT was working, the Yamaha made fantastic sounding CD-Rs. So, any recommendations for a new phono stage keeping in this budget. Also, any Benz vs. Dynavector thoughts would be helpful. Thanks, BR
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