thoughts on adding phonostage

I’ve compared side by side with Rogue, Stock phono in a receiver, and Rega all with using a ss amp and the ortofon bronze cart. To my ears, the rogue with the tubes and separate power supply was the best sound. Smooth, clear, not bright

I am confronted with the same question.  My initial thought is to live with my current MC preamp in my Aragon 24k.  Adding 2 sets of cable and another audio device and then into an aux/cd/or tape input on my current system and out again seems like a lot of added stuff in my signal path.  and it is starting at a few microvolts.

+1 for @soix comments. And if you are going to jump into LOMC land then consider a good step up with either tube or SS phono stages. With SUTs, you will want the widest bandwidth you can afford. 

My advice is try matching the phono cartridge with your loudspeakers. As you might know phono cartridges and speakers are the most flawed components in the audio chain. Explains why there is such a wide variation in sound characteristics.

A phono pre that might be flying under your radar is the Herron Audio VTPH-2A. If you check the Audiogon discussion forums, you'll find numerous glowing recommendations for it.

Problem is, they rarely hit the used market; so, being patient might be a big issue.