Best MM phono under $500

A lot of excellent choices at that price but you won't get the goody out of them with a 540P. In fact you could get alot more from thr 2M Red with better phono pre amp. Nearly every brand makes a credible contender at that price. Ortofon, Clearaudio, Goldring, Nagaoka and so on and so forth. Also HMOC's (high output moving coil) like the Dynavector 10x5 would work and fit the budget.

The Clearaudio Nano is a very nice phono pre amp for $350. It has variable gain and adjustable gain whic would support an upgrade path with your cartridge. Also the budget SimAudio phono pre amp is on close out at a couple of websites last I saw which puts it under $500. The Naim Stageline N is one of my favorites and I've listened to it with an XS and was very impressed.

Naim's Stageline is top notch IMO. I also like the Simaudio LP3, but would easily take a Stageline over it, especially with a Nait XS. The Nait XS has a powered input for a Stageline, so no need for an external power supply.

For a more flexible phono stage that'll sound excellent, you may want to look into Dynavector's P-75. I think it retails for about $750 or so, and can possibly be had second hand for your budget. It's more flexible, so it'll handle a wider variety of cartridges. It may have a sonic edge, but not enough to justify the cost over the Stageline IMO.

The manual says to connect a Stageline to the AUX 2 input, which is a DIN socket. I'm pretty sure the Stageline will come with the appropriate cable. Their other sources do, and I can't see why a Stageline wouldn't. If not, your Naim dealer should be able to sell you one and tell you what exactly you need.

I got the information from page 22 of the manual. Last paragraph on the left before the notes.