Ask HN: How to upgrade salary structure to keep existing team happy?

I run a web design and engineering studio, and unlike many competitors, I don't want to increase headcount too much. I want to keep it small (under 30 people), lean and keep working on our collective craftsmanship. In other words I want to avoid selling man-days and inevitably an outsourcing company.

We've been fortunate to end up in a place where we can pay above market rates to work with the best people. However, If we suddenly pay 1.5x to someone who just joined, it will destroy morale across all existing team members.

Upgrading all salaries across the board at once sounds a bit naive to me as it might feel as a signal of being underpaid for long period of time before (or maybe not? Thinking out loud)

Would love to hear your opinions and experience if you came through similar growing issues where you want to double down on quality not quantity of people.

Thanks!