One of the challenges when asking for advice on Audiogon is that you often get way more good advice than you can practically (or financially) act on. ;)
There are a couple themes that run through the suggestions that have been made here I'd highlight to you -- first, your turntable and arm are fine -- don't bother replacing them. Second, an important part of upgrading your sound is getting a couple essential accessories -- a good alignment protractor (as Macdadtexas suggests) and (I would still argue) a good record cleaning machine. To which I would add, on reflection, an Onzow Zerodust to clean the stylus on your cartridge.
There seems to be a consensus that your GCPH phono preamp is a good fit for the rest of your system (I had suggested a phono preamp upgrade, but bow to the collective wisdom of the other respondents).
Then, look for a good cartridge upgrade oppotrunity. I agree with those who suggest a used cartridge from Audiogon is a definite option, but second Coltrane1's word of caution -- purchase only from a seller with pretty hefty positive feedback -- a lot of used cartridges have been abused. The biggest challenge you face is that phono cartridges, like speakers, have real personalities and make performance/price trade-offs. So you may want to set your purchase price range to allow you to pick two or three, and purchase them one at a time, as Coltrane1 and Lak suggest.
Hope you have fun with your upgrading.
There are a couple themes that run through the suggestions that have been made here I'd highlight to you -- first, your turntable and arm are fine -- don't bother replacing them. Second, an important part of upgrading your sound is getting a couple essential accessories -- a good alignment protractor (as Macdadtexas suggests) and (I would still argue) a good record cleaning machine. To which I would add, on reflection, an Onzow Zerodust to clean the stylus on your cartridge.
There seems to be a consensus that your GCPH phono preamp is a good fit for the rest of your system (I had suggested a phono preamp upgrade, but bow to the collective wisdom of the other respondents).
Then, look for a good cartridge upgrade oppotrunity. I agree with those who suggest a used cartridge from Audiogon is a definite option, but second Coltrane1's word of caution -- purchase only from a seller with pretty hefty positive feedback -- a lot of used cartridges have been abused. The biggest challenge you face is that phono cartridges, like speakers, have real personalities and make performance/price trade-offs. So you may want to set your purchase price range to allow you to pick two or three, and purchase them one at a time, as Coltrane1 and Lak suggest.
Hope you have fun with your upgrading.