Phono pre-amps with volume control

P.S. lower priced king was EAR 834 and still a good choice (can be upgraded by factory tech Mitch Singerman).Can't remember how low it goes but also think if your going to use MC verus MM (they come in all prices).PS without a strong amp and speaker combo could raise problem if you don't have .4mv cart output.My friend uses a .23 with GCPH but he has a strong 40 watt tube into moderate sensitivity speakers.Make sure phono cart and amp will allow for enough power with chosen phono unit.He loves GCPH as it has gainc setting,volumes AND phase and mono switches.
Chazz

Aesthetix IO with Volume

JJ243 Preamp has an excellent phono stage in it, and you can run it with just the phono stage, with the phono stage and volume control, and Phono stage, volume control, and another gain stage, so you can accomodae low output cartridges. I am running mine into my Theta GenVIII analog input section. JJ was all the rage for a bit a number of years ago. They dont get much press anymore, but I have and very much enjoy their243 in my main system as a phono stage and their 828 integrated in my 2d system. They are imported by Eurotubes.

Art Audio Vinyl One (tube) works terrific for me. I had the PS GCPH and wasn't really impressed with it. The A.A.V.O. has room to grow as (if) you upgrade your system in the future. It's less costly than the Steelhead but more than the PS GCPH.

Since you're mentioning the Steelhead I'm guessing your also looking into a finer quality table set up. The Art Audio Reference and the top-of-the-line K&K Audio units offer even finer quality audio reproduction and reportedly perform equal to or even better than much higher priced units.

Thank you all for the great suggestions. This gives me a place to start.