Table,cartridge,phono...where to put most of my money?

@missioncoonery If you want to get the best fidelity vinyl can offer, you'll need to put more effort into it than digital.  With digital it's:  insert a CD, press a button and enjoy.  With streaming it's:  surf for whatever selection you want, press a button and enjoy.  Digital is unquestionably less work and the more convenient format.  However, with respect to comparative fidelity, my personal preference is for vinyl, provided it's done right.  The "is digital fidelity better than vinyl" debate is fast becoming the new or next "are expensive speaker cables really worth the money" trolling meme.  Some prefer and/or swear by digital and some by vinyl and that's perfectly alright.  To each, his own.  However, when comparing apples to apples, oranges to oranges (i.e.  quality components & source(s) of the digital to the vinyl sources), my ears prefer vinyl.  That being said, there are a host of factors that come into play in order to make a fair comparison, not the least of which is the condition of the records (e.g.  quality of recordings & pressings; cleanliness of records; dust mitigation rituals like keeping the stylus clean, brushing or blowing dust off records before play, etc.).

I have no idea what kind of shape your records are in.  However, judging from your reported experiences with your Linn and VPI turntables, assuming these were purchased new (i.e.  not used or otherwise defective in some way, including the cartridges) and set-up properly and also assuming there were no issues with the phono stage(s) employed, my initial suspicion points to the condition of your records.  This is why I tend to agree with those who've suggested by starting with clean records.  There are a host of ways to approach this, depending upon how much work, time or money you want to put into it (e.g.  manual cleaning; vacuum machines; ultrasonic machines; combinations thereof; etc.).  If you're not into sweat equity, stick to digital.  On the other hand, if you are really serious about wanting to get the best out of a vinyl format, I think a bit of reading & research would be in order.  Here's a little something that I guarantee will not be an easy read but, if you truly are serious about this, will be worth your time:

PACVR-3rd-Edition (thevinylpress.com)

What cart and phono stage are you using now?

Another vote for proper cleaning regardless of your table/pre/cart, and a strong recommendation for ultrasonic. I've had a vacuum-based cleaner for years and was using a manual cleaning/vacuum cleaning regimen that I thought was getting the job done. Adding an ultrasonic cleaner is the single best SQ improvement I've made to my vinyl rig. 

That is a great question and a dilemma often faced by my friends that are not vested in a large vinyl collection. I have often recommended to change their preamplifier with a capable preamp with excellent phono built-in. Two come to mind: The CAT SL1 and the Octave 500SE. Both under $5000 used. Personally, I prefer the Octave. The Octave can be bought in Europe with 220V. It is a very easy conversion to 120V, which you will do on your own. I will keep the Linn and with the  the rest of the money, I will buy the best Lyra or Shelter cartridge I can. 

For separates, again, I will keep the Linn and look for a used FM Acoustics FM122 phono. Again, I will use the Lyra or Shelter cartridges. The base VDH Frog is also very good cartridge and I will consider it without hesitation.

Furthermore, I will invest in a good set of cartridge calibration / set-up tools and a good scale to ensure proper alignment and tracking force. Wally Analog is a good source and very helpful. Recommended scales are from Clearaudio and Ortofon.

In both cases, the achieved sound would be at serious high-end levels, provided the rest of your chain is capable for delivering the goods.

Good luck, Basile

I’ve got a state of the art digital rig (transport & DAC) and a late 90’s vintage turntable (Denon DP 47F) plus a Hana SL cartridge. I’m following this thread carefully because I am seriously considering getting a new turntable and arm.

I’m curious what it is about your vinyl sound you don’t like as well as a CD. Is it frequency response, imaging, surface noise, compressed dynamics, or other issues?

My vinyl rig actually sounds very similar to my digital rig on the best pressings. I collect audiophile pressings and the best vinyl records can have a little more "bloom" than the correseponding CD or SACD. I also have over a thousand older records dating back to the 70’s and many of those records are clearly inferior to the CD. Most of the time it’s not even close. The CD is clearer, has better dynamics, doesn’t have surface noise, and is just easier to listen to. I really doubt that buying a six figure analog setup would make these records sound better than the CD.

BTW, these records are in good condition and I have always used a discwasher to clean before with every play. I doubt that ultrasonic cleaning would make a leap in their sound quality but I haven’t heard that comparison. There are people who offer the service of cleaning your records with an ultrasonic cleaner and I would try that before spending several grand on a unit of your own.

I think the issue gets down to having an emotional attachment to your old records. If you are not buying new vinyl then I think that it’s going to be a matter of living with the SQ problems of your records. If your VPI or Linn tables didn’t cut it I doubt you are going to do significantly better with new equipment.

Regarding specific equipment, my budget is similar to yours and I am considering an EAT C-Sharp turntable or the new Mo-Fi Masterdeck table. I’m going to keep my Hana cartridge because the reviews I’ve read indicate that it is hard to do better without spending mega bucks.