Help me pick a phono, pre and cart

Thanks all - you are a tremendous resource. 
@jperry Thanks for the suggestion. I was leaning VPI due to their Rep and the fact I live in Jersey. 
Let’s assume I’m going with the prime and ART9.  On to the pre - and matching.

It looks like several of you guys are pretty fond of the Herron. I researched at his site, and although much of the specifics is beyond my knowledge, I like his design approach; particularly with the way he allows for loading adjustments. 
@almarg Thanks for bringing the input impedance requirements of the VTPH-2A to my attention.
That the AX-7A doesn’t meet them should be a temporary problem as I plan on upgrading the amp section next year. How much would the mis-match affect the sound until then?
Would I be better off getting a different used pre that’s a better match to the Ax-7 for now? 

@jetson

The most significant adverse consequence of running the Herron or the ARC phono stages that were mentioned into your Ayre amp is, IMO, likely to be weakness in the deep bass region. That is because the output impedance of those phono stages at deep bass frequencies undoubtedly rises to much higher values than the nominal spec, due to their use of a coupling capacitor at their outputs. (The impedance of a capacitor increases as frequency decreases).

Also, I see that the speakers you’re planning to purchase this year are spec’d at +/- 2 db down to 24 Hz, so their excellent deep bass extension is likely to make the issue more apparent than it would be with many other speakers.

I seem to recall a report here some time ago of reasonably good results running the Herron into 30K, although I don’t recall what speakers were being used. But I haven’t ever seen any reports about the Herron’s performance into an impedance as low as 20K. Also, I don’t know what the value (the number of microFarads) is of the coupling capacitor that is used in the design, which would help to quantify the issue.

I suspect that a phone call or email to Keith Herron would be the best way of determining if the issue is something you would want to live with until you obtain a new preamp. I’m sure he will give you a sincere and well-founded opinion.

A few months ago, btw, Keith did explicitly recommend to another member that his phono stage not be used in conjunction with a 10K load, citing the likelihood of compromised dynamics. See one of the posts by Uberwaltz dated 4-2-2018 in this thread:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/ugraditus-is-calling-again-phono-stage?page=2

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

@almarg Al, you are correct regarding the impedance mismatch.  The OP may want to give Keith Herron a call to get his thoughts on mating the VTPH-2a to the Ayre.  Sometimes it's OK, sometimes not.  But I have always found Mr. Herron to be easy to talk to, honest and helpful.  

@dodgealum Bear Claws are supposed to work pretty well, too.  My Stillpoints came with the table so it wasn't painful.

Thanks Al, I’ll check with him and post the reply

@bpoletti Thanks also for the suggestion to call Keith Herron. 

As to the feet, it looks like VPI knew they needed improvement there. From one review I found:
”The four isolation feet on the bottom of the Prime, sitting in Delrin corner posts, were inspired by Stillpoints according to Weisfeld, ”
but I guess they didn’t quite hit the mark.