So, my NAS Hyperspace w. MP500 gets beaten by Iphone and TV

I have a Notthingham Hyperspace. One of the very old models without the "heavy platter" mod. I recently fitted it with a Nagaoka MP500 pick up.

I decided to run a test against my Iphone with the Youtube app installed which i casted through Chromecast to my plasma (so 2000's) TV which is connected to my preamp through a cheap 0,00001 inch interconnect. You know the red and white thingies that comes with consumer products.

Record on, drop needle and start comparison.

Oh well...

What i realised is that my 5-6.000$ turntable setup doesnt really nail the high end Iphone/Chromecast/Plasma combo to the ground in direct comparison. There isnt really much of a difference to my ears.

I spend the whole day tweaking with protractors, VTA, VTF and this and that for no apparent outcome or change in conclusion. Still no real remarkable difference.

Now, I may be deaf (dumb and blind) and in that case there isnt any reason to have anything else but a simple streaming setup.

Digital is all new to me and id like to consider my options. Id like to own my music, so I guess I will be downloading and not streaming.

Is the common setup today a harddrive connected to a media player connected to preamp or?