Rega fono mini or fono. Brilliant for the price. I've only compared them with the NAD PP2 and the Pro-ject phono box, but they were so much better. Proper soundstage, dynamics, etc BUT
camed:Generally listen to rock and pop. Looking at spending £500-£600. Would consider used equipment also.
Solid state amplification would be advantageous. As stated by Tarquin Lehmann is a excellent phono stage. There are plenty of other excellent stages available. The one's i use are Dynavector P75 which is clinical sounding but unravels rock riffs with ease and suites my set up nicely. The other is a Benz Micro Lukaschek which is more laid back and warm sounding. Its more of an vinyl feel than the P75. They are both excellent but in different ways. The Benz costs over 1k but they do come up now and then second hand. The P75's around £500 new.
I would look no further than a Trichord Dino Mk2 which can be set up for any cartridge you may use now or in the future, either mm or mc. This is well within your budget.