What to upgrade to?

bobheinatz ,

I dont know your spkrs that well, but am going through similar situation.

you have a nice table and arm, I would go for the phono stage upgrade.

Last 24 months have bought and sold a variety of phono stages in the 2k to 5k range. finally bit the bullet and walked up to next level. bought the VTL TP 6.6 signature with all options. Have never heard LPs sound so good and so dynamic.
so my vote would be spend your cash on the VTL phono stage.

best of luck

Dear @bobheinatz  : Now that you decided to go for a top cartridge here some alternatives where you can't go wrong with either:


https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa1ecc-ortofon-mc-century-cartridge-cartridges

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa1h97-lyra-atlas-sl-cartridges

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis99edf-ortofon-anna-mc-as-new-cartridges

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9gjc5-transfiguration-audio-proteus-diamond-cartridges

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9b2j9-zyx-universe-iii-new-fabulous-zyx-cartridges

https://mysoniclab.com/#/ultraeminent/



After that I think that you can explore the convenience or not to improve tha bass range of your system due that as better  your low bass range as better the overall room/system quality performance levels:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/do-you-think-you-need-a-subwoofer/post?postid=310058#310058

Here I'm talking of quality over quantity of that bass range. Nothing substitute quality vs quantity.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Johnss,  My custom builtin phono stage on my Deja Vu preamp is very good and I will stay with it even though I am sure there can be better options.
Raul thanks for the list of cartridges.  All of those you listed would be a real nice improvement.

Which amp do you have? 

I think the amp and the speakers will have to match to work really well. You could change both at the same time and sell your old amp but that might leave you less money for the speakers.

I also think the speakers will make a larger difference but if you are satisfied with your system you don't really have to do anything. What you could do is to find some used speaker or amp (or TT) you are curious about and buy that. Try it out for a few weeks and then sell it if nothing improved.

An amp that impressed me was the Abosolare Integrated but then you would have to let go of your preamp also. For speakers I like a number of Focal speakers, the Sopra 3 should be around $20k. The Boenicke W11 SE is also around that price.

Bob perhaps try reaching out to Vu at Deja Vu and getting some cartridge recs that match up well with your phono pre. Vu's given me tons of great advice over the years he really knows good sound.