Upgrade turntable, arm or cartridge?

yes the tone arm sound like the ticket . However the most un realized problem in TTs is very simple how does the stylus look on theVan De Hul. they do wear . If you get a new table get a Walker, a bit tweaky but is analog at its best .

Get a non-suspended TT.The improvement in performance with the other components you are using will be enormous.

Dear Dcaudio: Other than the Phonolinepreamp I agree with the post in favor to change the tonearm.

Your cartridge is a great one but needs the right matching tonearm to " show " its quality performance and the ET one is not the " cup of tea " for the Grasshooper.

regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

The ET2 is definitely not a good match with especially the Oracle Delphi. Because of the arm being a linear tracker and it's odd mounting position, the weight distribution of the Oracle will be thrown off.

If this was my setup, I would change the table. Go for a non suspended table. It would be a better match with your ET2 tonearm (still an magnificent arm till today).

As for the ET2 and the Grasshpper....Cannot help you on that.

Dear Dcaudio: Along a change on the tonearm maybe could be a good idea to growing-up the TT to MK IV/V status ( I don't if this could be or I'm totally wrong about. ).

About tonearm, I understand that Oracle goes very good with SME 345/IV/V that makes a very good match with your cartridge.

I don't know which TT mat/clamp you own but making some tests on this subject could help you as could help you too a change on the tonearm IC and phono IC cables.

Now, you state that your Sonny sounds better than your analog rig, could you share with us in which sound reproduction areas the Sonny's sound beat it? is this happen with any kind of music and any kind of LP recordings?. I assume that the tonearm/TT/cartridge set-up is right on target as is the cartridge load impedance through the Phono stage, right?

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.