Analog Upgrade - Where to start?

+1 @mikelavigne

it’s hard to specifically recommend a phono pre without knowing the rest of your system and musical tastes. 

without knowing the rest of the system one cannot judge if it’s at the same level as your front end to avoid sonic bottlenecks.  It would also be helpful what kind of sound one is looking for: midrange warmth, linearity, fool you realism, slam, etc so we can make more informed suggestions 

+1 @mikelavigne

so i’ll just throw out the van den Hul Grail as a good very high performance phono that won’t break the bank and fits your stated goals. it plays with the big boys.

While trying to achieve the best sound the cheapest way possible without sacrificing sound quality I picked up a used VDH Grail SB.  Fremer August 2018 “…exceptionally fine-sounding, startlingly transparent, liquid yer gritty (when called for), super-quiet…the Grail is a sleeper…” 

The rest of my system: Pass Labs XA60.8 amp, Audio Research Ref 6, Avantgarde Uno speakers, Silent Source interconnects, Audioquest power cables.  The kind of sound I am looking for: dynamic speed/without the hardness, fullness/rounded/balanced, musical (sounds like real instruments/voices nothing added and nothing taken away), wide/deep soundstage, revealing but not at the expense of musicality.  

Hello,
it looked like your looking for an upgrade to  your PS Audio Stellar phono stage. I doubt you would have a problem selling that. You should match the phono preamp with the TT or at least the cartridge. 
I am going to suggest Sutherland products. https://sutherlandengineering.com/home/
I think you should take a listen to the Little LOCO or it’s big brother the Phono LOCO. I have tried the Sutherland TZ Vibe (MC only) and the Little Loco. They are so good. Sutherland has a little something for most everyone. I think for $3800 the Little LOCO is a steal for what it does. Luckily the store I buy gear from is a dealer. They are located in the Chicagoland area. They let you try in your home before you pull the financial trigger. https://holmaudio.com/
I think the TZ Vibe is $1400 and the Little LOCO is $3800. One really cool thing about these two phono preamps is you don’t need to mess with setting up the cartridge loads.  “The endless worry about finding the ‘best’ load value is obviated.
The cartridge must be the moving coil type.”Plus, you can add 6db of gain if you need it. I listened to it on the VPI Prime Signature with the AT 1000 cart on the normal gain setting and it sounded really good. Same thing for the TZ Vibe on the new VPI Prime 21 with the Shyla cartridge. (AT Art 9+) If you want to go higher or need MM Sutherland has options for that too. I am waiting for my Linn Axis motor board to be rebuilt so I have to wait to decide what is best for my TT and system but it will be a Sutherland. I hope this helped. 

I would like to thank everyone for the great advice and input.  It’s been very helpful and further confirms to me that the turntable and tonearm do not need to be changed.  
Some people have mentioned that there is a place to list out system components (perhaps  in my profile).  I will try to figure that out and update it.

@chilli42 thanks for your system info.  Just wanted to make sure your system was transparent enough to hear changes/upgrade to your analog front end which it apparently is.  However, I’m not familiar with Silent Source interconnects so not sure if adequate for your audio chain.

I agree that both cartridge and phono preamp upgrades should be your next sonic upgrade steps. The cartridge change would move you towards the sound you’re looking for while the phono preamp upgrade would increase the quality of the sound and should lower the noise floor.