best mm/mc preamp under $200 and best mc cartridge under $500 for an SME 3009 S2 arm ?

Bass slam & needing extra treble to the point of being too bright is the most important factor to me.

I’m still not sure how you can get these from a $130-200 phono stage?

The bass is the most problematic for all cheap phono stages, not only this, but it’s an illusion that phonostage can be good at this price point.

Also if you want a extra treble then you have to definitely load your cartridge at 100k Ohm (not at 47k Ohm).

As we can see the RCA on Schiit Mani are the cheapest as all the parts, i’m sure, otherwise it’s simply impossible to make a phono stage, a pair of Vishay 100k restistors cost $40-60 alone.

In my opinion you can buy much better phono stage used for $400

SoundSmith selling preamps too:
https://www.sound-smith.com/phono-preamps

What do u think about the Denon DL301 Mk 2 ?  It seems extremely well priced.  Or, is the treble response better on the AT740ML ?  I DO like extra treble to compensate for my age :-)

Unless I am mistaken it looks like hi compliance (16) and therefore would be suitable for my SME 3009 Improved II with fixed headshell.

Comments ?

Thanks

I’ll second the Audio-Technica VM540ML, in fact I own two of them and love them. The 740ML is basically the same thing with an alloy body, which in my opinion is a negative when it comes to electrically isolating the cartridge wiring (often bonded to the body with one of the signal negative leads) from the tonearm ground.

The NAD PP2 is a nice platform for upgrading with a Burson V6 Classic discrete op-amp and replacing the wall warts with a beefy regulated power supply. You can also replace the input RCA connectors with nice Neutrik XLR jacks and replace the interconnect to your turntable with a nice shielded, balanced cable to extend the tonearm wiring as it should be all the way from the cartridge to the phono stage.  That easily puts you in the ballpark of the midrange phono stages, but you don’t have to do all of the upgrades at once.