Turntable Cartridge upgrade question.

PS. I have a Black Ice DAC which I'm very happy with, no experience with their phono stages but I'd be tempted to try one if I were you, especially with their 45 day return policy and the direct to consumer model usually means more bang for the buck. 

I run a Hana ML with a Sutherland Insight phono preamp (and VPI table) with very good results.  Not terribly expensive…may be worth a listen. 

+1 on the Darlington Labs.

I owned the Mani and went  to the Darlington Labs MP 7. 

Always felt it was a major upgrade from the Mani.

So much info guys I need to do my home work now, honestly now I'm dumber that I was before I started asking questions :)  Thank you all for input !

Why not put the ortofon 2m black lvb 250 stylus on your black? According to Fremer, it performs like a moving coil. A worthwhile upgrade. As others have asked, why would you cheap out on the phono stage? You should be spending at least a grand on that, if not more.