I agree that the Mani is considered a high quality budget phonostage and would be a good choice. It is very flexible regarding cartridge gain loading. The 4 gain settings, ranging between 30 and 59dB, would allow use of the Saga in either active or passive mode. Most moving magnet cartridges have a output vo;tage between 3.5 mV, requiring ~49dB gain from phonostage, and 5.5 mV requiring ~ 45dB gain from phonostage to reach 1 volt output. This output is thought to be reasonable to expect from a phonostage without providing noise. This is more than that required by the STA200 which makes use of a passive with it a viable approach.
I have no issue with the Saga, and am sure it would be fun to explore it's use as mentioned by soix. My thought was that the Schiit SYS and Mani could both be had for under $200 including shipping. Also if your budget was raised to $500, I wonder what the additional $300 might return sonically if used toward a different phonostage. Increased price doesn't always translate to improvement, however often does. I doubt there is a detectable sonic difference between the SYS and Saga used in passive mode.
Most digital sources provide 2+ volts output therefore the differential volume settings alluded to by lowrider57. This creates the problem balancing loudness levels between the two sources.
