What cartridge, what output?

Dear Twilightround: A very good alternative is through MM cartridges like the ones from Clearudio and Nagaoka or Ortofon.

Here you not only will have a high quality performance but you don't have to worry about gain.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear friend: As I told you the MM alternative is the way to go and in those cartridge different lines ( Clearaudio, Ortofon and Nagaoka. ) you can achieve what you are looking with out any risk passing the a,b,c points that Doug posted.

You say you have a MM cartridge, could you share which one?

There are almost " hundreds " of MM cartridges that are different of what you have and your phono stage seems to me was designed more thinking in MM cartridges than i MC ones due to its 47K input fixed impedance.
You can run too a HOMC but IMHO the MM alternative is the best for you and your budget.

Now ( in your price range and according your phono stage. ), I can't see a MC cartridge that can perform better than a MM cartridge at the same price.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.