Weakest Link? Your honest opinions.


Before I spend any more on audio equipment, I'd like some opinions on my current vinyl rig:

Nagaoka MP200 Cartridge (this I will be upgrading to a Zephyr as soon as possible)>

VPI Classic 1>

Blue Jeans BJC LC-1 RCA Cables>

Jolida JD9 Phono Stage>

Monster RCA Cables>

Marantz PM-68 Int Amp>

Canare 4S11 Star Quad Speaker Cable>

Kef Q55 Speakers (bi-wired)

Everything aside from the turntable/cartridge I've had for 5 to 6 years, and are my first foray into HiFi audio.

Just bought the Classic 1 recently, and I'm loving it so far, but I feel a better cartridge will really improve the sound. The Nagaoka was used previously on my Rega P1 (which I'm using in my office rig). I'm saving up to buy the Zephyr, but does anyone notice any other obvious faults in my system?

I feel like the Marantz and Kefs could be replaced at some point, but I wouldn't want to make a purchase unless I know it's going to make a significant improvement over what I already have.

Also, does anyone think some part of my rig might prevent the Zephyr from performing as well as it should?
narticus
Dear Narticus,
You really asked an impossible question, because none of us has heard your system and none of us knows what you are after, what it is that you find unsatisfying. My first thought is that you might benefit from eliciting the opinion of a local audiophile friend, preferably someone more advanced than you. Ask him or her to come over for several hours of listening, preferably spread out over several different sessions using a variety of sources and musical genres. Then you and that person can have an intelligent discussion of the most cost-effective ways to improve your sound.

"Anti-cables" were mentioned. Paul Speltz makes them. He is one of the smartest most thoughtful guys in audio. I knew him for years before he got into the business. IMO, his products are very very good for the money and maybe even disregarding cost as a factor. When I don't make my own ICs and speaker cables, I use the ones made by Anti-cable. Far far more neutral than anything ever made by Cardas, for one example, and IMO of course.

Power line conditioners are a pit of snakes. As someone else mentioned you can easily harm the performance of your integrated amp by plugging it in to a PLC that limits current in any way. I would NOT start there.

Slikrik obviously wants attention, and I cannot believe that so many of the responses rewarded him with what he wants. His post should have been deleted on day one.
I was in a similar situation a while back, wondering what was the `weak` link in my system as it turned out it was the speaker cables for me, do what I did with the cables, go to a local audio shop and inquire about in home trials worked for me. Bottom line is what you perceive as ideal sound is only for you to decide, don`t go throwing $$$ at your system when could be as easy as a cable swap.

first time poster:)

Good luck!
I have not liked monster cables in years. I feel they are too polite especially on the upper midrange and high frequency ranges. Source equipment and cabling is very important to me and is where I would make changes first.