Moving from mm to mc

In prior threads I did a poor job of communicating. Let me state quickly where I am and where I want to go. In the days before children I ate, drank and slept vinyl. Since they are grown and gone, I have pulled the vinyl out and picked up a Garrard 401 with a SME 3009 Series II improved tone arm and a Shure V15 Type III cartridge. I drove 100 miles from Charlotte, NC to Raleigh, NC to have the tone arm rewired and the 401 checked out. All was well until I recently listened to a Benz Micro Glider through a tube amp and was blown away. That is where I want to go … to a system using a mc. However, getting from a 7.1 home theatre system to a viable mc system is proving to be a major undertaking, because the quality and technology has changed so much. So I will use my existing system until I figure this out. I did pick up an EAR 88pb at an outrageously low price, because I read enough to know that I would need a decent phono preamp to support mid to low output mc’s.

I have read about matching the tone arm to the specs of the mc you want to use, and selecting a good turntable. Please indulge a few questions: 1) Can I realistically incorporate my 401, or should I move on to something else? 2) Can I use my SME? As I understand it, the SME is not designed to work with mid to low output mc’s. 3) Finally, should I change out the power cord on the EAR, and what cabling would you recommend? Realistically, I know this will take a while to figure this out. In the event I have to replace all, I am estimating $4,000 - $6,000 for a tt, arm and cart, depending on new or used. I would like to think I can incorporate my Yamaha RX-V3900 in the loop. At this point, I could use some sound advice. It is tough when you live in a city without a good stereo shop. Thank you.