Try EAT's own phono stage - i've heard great things about it. That aside think about the cartridges you have at your disposal when you get a phono stage and the kind of sound you want. In terms of budget I agree with the sentiment of several posters - don't think it must be XXX of your budget. In the high end world stages can and often are the same price as anything else in the chain. Keep an eye out for a dream component - i did with my favourite of 2 stages i have (Vendetta SCP2A) - if you buy second-hand send it to a tech to replace all the electrolytic capacitors - (I have the scars for not doing so)
Cost of Turntable vs. cost of Phono Stage
Is there such a thing as keeping the costs relative to one another? I'm sure there will be some variance because not all equally priced Turntables are of same quality as each other and the same will go for comparatively priced Phono Stages, but generally speaking I'm curious about this.
I just ordered an EAT C MAjor and I am looking for a comparatively equal quality Phono Stage. Thoughts?