Clueless has it, there are no best. Consideration is whether you need phono or not, though you probably would not be considering a passive if you did(duh on my part. Probably I would be looking for and inexpensive active ss, adds a little bass control, St 70 is a great amp, but a little loose on the bottom(can't have everything for that kind of money)plus the headroom gain on the active might be nice versus the passive. Lot of good pre's out there under 200. You will have a nice setup, probably under $1k I bet, definitely could own a lot worse for a lot more.