Looking for a suggestion for a good Phono Stage

Mechans- I think the cartridge is a Grado Green Prestige. I would probably upgrade the cartridge at some point. I don't believe the particular ARC SP4 I have has a built in phono stage. I believe ARC put out an SP4-A that had the phono stage. I don't want to spend much more than $200, either new or used. I do have a fair collection of vinyl, but most of my investment is CD.

That budget kind of limits things, I can't think of anything other than a Bellari with it's single tube, sorry.

"I believe ARC put out an SP4-A that had the phono stage"

Patrickrealtor76
I'm fairly sure all SP-4 preamps came with a built in phono stage. However, not all came with a built in MC head amp.
If you use a high output cartridge(like most Grados, MMs or HOMC) there should be no problem. If you want to at some stage move to a low output MC then a good step-up transformer would probably better than the head amp that came with the SP4 anyway.

PBN,
Interesting that you and "Liberty Audio" have the same street address in El Cajon, Ca.

How about an explanation?

Thanks in advance.

My SP-4 has SPARE, TUNER, MAG 1, MAG 2, HEAD AMP input selection. I run my phono through MAG 1. Am I getting that part right? There is a fair amount of hum coming out of the speakers until I begin to play a record. I have decided to upgrade to a Grado Prestige Gold (from the green) unless somebody has an idea of a comparably priced cartridge with better synergy. What about Pro-Ject Tube Box for the stage. A little up in price from the $200 I quoted, but maybe worth it? I apologize about my lack of knowledge in this field. I did not grow up around vinyl and decided to do a 180 degree from setting up my system to play PC audio so I'm jumping into this head first.