Step up transformer or upgrade phono preamp?

You guys are profligate spenders of other people’s money.  Assume the OP likes his cartridge. He also says his problem is not lack of gain. He’s looking for a a phono stage upgrade. Trot out the usual suspects that have sufficient gain for his cartridge: Allnic 1201 or 1202, Herron, Chinook, many solid state units, and yadayada.

I am not against SUT's when implemented by designer as part of the system. But that is a far cry from the typical consumer who buys a 3rd party SUT and installs it with their phono preamp because it doesn't have enough gain.  I believe that boosting the gain is the only reason to have the SUT. I've done it before many yrs back but it was a patch for a problem of lack of gain with a MM phono preamp. So what am I missing?

I can't imagine adding a $1k Denon SUT to a $600 phono preamp. That just seems wrong headed. With the extra cable you will have even more expense. That $1100-1200 can go a long way towards a better phono preamp. Why boost an inferior signal when for the same $$$ you can get a better quality signal with proper boost? Am I missing something?

The assertion is that MM phono-pre is more easy to make than
(complex) MC -pre. The other is ''the higher the amplification the
higher distortions''. $ 600 preamp does not imply ''bad preamp''. 
There are ''only MM'' kinds. SUT like Denon S1 can improve
the sound of an ''poor man'' system. In addition Denon produced
a speical cartridge for this SUT because of SUT's succes. The
cart is DL-S1 and can be get for less than $1000. 

Maybe a dumb question, but let’s say I went with an SUT. I’ve noticed that some SUT’s do not specify how much gain is added, it only shows the coil winding ratio. Is this another way of telling me how much gain would be added to the chain? And if so how would you convert it? 

Question isn't the dumb one. It's another way to tell what you'll get.
Although you have to match 2 things per once - step up ratio and impedance.