I have had really good turntables for about 30 years. VPI Aries (Van den Hull Frog) and now a contemporary Linn LP12 with a Koetsu Rosewood Signature cartridge. Over that time I had well chosen phonostages that ran from20% to a bit over 100%... I definitely recommend 100%. Depending on the exact setup. The gains I got from Phonostage upgrades were huge. I can’t tell you how many times I tried highly rated "cost effective" phonostages that sounded terrible... I mean even at thousands of dollars.
We are talking in cost... this is why I added "well chosen"... meaning within that price category I chose the best and most compatible with my system, just not anything, since that is a recipe for mediocre performance. If well chosen you are getting the most for your money.
Right now I am running an Audio Research Reference 3 Phono-stage ($17K) with my Linn rig, about the same cost... I think they are well matched. While all of Audio Research products are audiophile, they are most known for Phono-stages and Preamps.
Assuming you are planning on improving your system over time:
Given what you are buying, I would go for the best you can afford... maybe a used Audio Research Phono-stage. See if you can get a used PH8... you will not have to worry about this getting in the way of anything you attach to it (you might have to settle for earlier versions). I think this is the real sweet spot in the ARC line. You get better spending more, but the slope of the line between cost and performance flattens.