Upgrade from clearaudio maestro mm to $2-3k mc cart?

Thanks everyone. Upgrading the phono stage first makes sense. I’ve heard good things about the simaudio moon. The Manley Chinook and Aestetix Rhea have also caught my eye but the prices (especially for the Rhea) would require extra time to save up. Any opinions on those stages compared to the moon 310lp? Also, from my brief research into the 310lp it looks like you have to open the case to adjust settings. Is that as big of a pain as it sounds? Lastly, do those of you that recommended the 310LP use the internal power supply or an external psu?

Thanks

@tablejockey 
They do have a less expensive (or maybe more inexpensive?) tube hybrid phono at around $500 so maybe that’s the one you’re remembering? I’m not sure how long the tube box ds2 has been around. As for finding a thread on it, I’ve seen plenty of threads about people upgrading to the ds2 but not much about upgrading from the ds2. I’ll keep looking. 

@holmz 

I see what you mean. On one hand I could save up longer for a super upgrade of phono stage and cart but on the other hand I really enjoy getting to know each component as it enters the system and I’m not able to do that if I change two things at once. I have some thinking to do but I’m not in a rush. Did you end up going with the Lil Loco?

@tablejockey 

I’ll take a look at the fosgate. My research on phono stages has been very casual as I thought I’d be replacing the cart first so I still have a lot of research to do. I tend to prefer tubes to ss (in general) but am not dead set on having a tubed phono. I recently added an audiomirror tubadour III SE DAC to my digital chain which I think is what has had me thinking about analog upgrades... 
 

@sandstone 

Do you have the moon 310LP paired with that tt? Are you using the concept mc or did you land on something else? Thanks. 

@williewonka 

Thanks for the extra info. I don’t have an arsenal of carts that I’ll be swapping in and out so I don’t think needing to take the cover off to adjust the settings would prevent me from pulling the trigger on one. Sounds like maybe a bit of a hassle getting it dialed in the first time but then like you said, “set it and forget it.”

@tablejockey 

Thanks for sharing, I’ll take a look at the Trumpet. I couldn’t tell from your post if you have the Trumpet or if the recommendation was based on reviews. If you have it, how does it compare to the other phono stages you mentioned earlier? I know my tube box ds2 is on the upper end of entry level but at $900 it seems hard to believe that the $1200 Trumpet would be a massive sonic improvement. I’ll still look into it though!

@kingharold 

Thanks for the advice, I’ll check it out. I’ve been swayed here to upgrade my phono stage first but will eventually upgrade the cart too.