Need advice for upgrading my analog setup

OK ~ I’ll be that guy 😉

No disrespect intended, just an option for maximizing musical resolution, image bloom and all around enjoyment with inherent isolation much improved over your existing Pro-Ject.

If you’re married to the Darlington Labs MP-7 phono preamp (not knocking it!), I’d suggest the best Grado High Output pickup you could afford after acquiring a Technics 1200G. Toss the current tungsten polymer record mat from Luxman on it followed by your favorite records.

While not sexy by audiophile standards, it would serve up the goods and the Americans who import these Japanese products are great guys.

@needfreestuff is correct to mention phono cables 👍 lots of good inexpensive solutions (such as Mogami) on this forum.

Thank you all for the input! I really appreciate it.

@grislybutter - the looks of the Sapphire is what drew me to it. With the solid wood finish and its physical size and weight. I'm a fan on turntables that don't look like they belong in a laboratory or in a space shuttle.

@boothroyd - thank you for being that guy! I like to see what options are out there and I had not considered Technics deck or Grado carts.

I think you should stop and audition some alternatives. Vinyl can sound dull and lifeless or unbearably shrill, or full bass, or lush midrange, etc etc. Find out what you like and choose your cartridge accordingly. Just my $.02.

Good luck!

A great choice with the SOTA. I have a Star Sapphire with vacuum hold down, an SMEV arm and a Kiseki Blue cart and it’s magic to my ears. Once the SOTA is setup it’s pretty much play it and forget it. Great isolation and speed stability and the table just rocks! I also have a nice VPI setup but I like the SOTA more overall. Just make sure your phono stage and cartridge are up to the challenge or your overal happiness with the table might suffer a bit. It’s worth the best you can afford to throw at it.

As others have mentioned I'd strongly consider upgrading your phone stage as well. You can get a new Musical Surroundings Nova III for 1500, used even less. Dead quiet and linear. Great piece. There are others in that price range that will be a huge upgrade as well. I'd almost suggest you upgrade the phono stage first as you'll likely be surprised how much better things sound and then when you do your big upgrade you'll get the most out of it. That's a great table/arm/cartridge combo. I'd also suggest you look at clearaudio's performance DC table maybe with their tracer tonearm and a hana cartridge like the ml. The symmetry in that setup when I had it was trwndous.