I have the cronus magnum. If I were you I would seriously look at a new phono pre. A new cartridge will not be given justice running through the built in phono pre. I really wanted to elimenate the extra phono pre and ran the built in for a little while after getting the cronus, it was okay but not great. When I hooked back up the Bottlehead Seduction I couldn't believe I'd used the built in for so long. In my opinion the built in is one dimensional and grainy, you can do a ton better for not much more money. If I ever have to send the cronus back for anything I will have them bypass the phono so I can free up the input. Also, I ran a Rega P3 for a while and now a p7, it's a nice step up. If you stick with the p3-24 think about upgrading the sub platter as well, it is a nice and noticeable upgrade. Hope this helps!