Which Shelter are you thinking about? I am currently using the 901 with my PH3 SE. Previosly, I have the Benz M2 which has 0.8mV output. I believe ARC recommended cartridges with 05mV or higher. The Shelter 901 has a 0.5mV output, and is adequate if you don't play the music loud. I have to turn the volume on my preamp (LS-2B MkII) to 11 o'clock position for normal listening (on Jazz). But when I feel like jamming and turn it up to 12 o'clock position or higher, the background noise is noticeable. I am thinking about hooking up a step-up transformer to see how it compares.
FrankC
FrankC