+1 on the Cable Company. Their lending library is excellent. Also +1 to Al's question re: the cart involved. Audience has cables targeted at carts with different characteristics. I have their phono cable for LOMC, low impedance carts. And it is great. Noticed that Cable Company has the Audience MM cable for under your $500 limit.
Phono interconnect under $500 used
I am using Mogami 2549 interconnects at the moment to connect from the tonearm to my phonostage. It is good, well balanced tonally with macro dynamics and speed. However I get a feeling that I am missing on outright resolution. Is it a realistic expectation to find another interconnect within $500 (used) which will have the fine balance of Mogami yet improves on the resolution ? I am not looking at the latest and the greatest but rather a proven IC for phono connection.