Analog Upgrade - Where to start?

+1 @mikelavigne

it’s hard to specifically recommend a phono pre without knowing the rest of your system and musical tastes. 

without knowing the rest of the system one cannot judge if it’s at the same level as your front end to avoid sonic bottlenecks.  It would also be helpful what kind of sound one is looking for: midrange warmth, linearity, fool you realism, slam, etc so we can make more informed suggestions 

+1 @mikelavigne

so i’ll just throw out the van den Hul Grail as a good very high performance phono that won’t break the bank and fits your stated goals. it plays with the big boys.

While trying to achieve the best sound the cheapest way possible without sacrificing sound quality I picked up a used VDH Grail SB.  Fremer August 2018 “…exceptionally fine-sounding, startlingly transparent, liquid yer gritty (when called for), super-quiet…the Grail is a sleeper…” 

@chilli42 thanks for your system info.  Just wanted to make sure your system was transparent enough to hear changes/upgrade to your analog front end which it apparently is.  However, I’m not familiar with Silent Source interconnects so not sure if adequate for your audio chain.

I agree that both cartridge and phono preamp upgrades should be your next sonic upgrade steps. The cartridge change would move you towards the sound you’re looking for while the phono preamp upgrade would increase the quality of the sound and should lower the noise floor.