I need a turntable, only have $450 to spare...

i pulled the trigger on the 721. I paid $299.00 but oh well, its less than my $450.00 budget. I'm kinda anxious being I haven't heard vinyl is so long. Thanks to all and Mr_hosehead, the stylus is new(shure V-15 type 3 w/stylus), the reciept and service sheet is supposed to come with it. And Narrod I'm not gonna mess with it right away, but I know me! I hate the interconnects that comes with the components. It's only a matter of time for a obsessive like myself to fall off of the wagon ;-)

MT- If you are gonna change ICs, my suggestion would be to get the whole tone arm re-wired from the cart clips to the RCAs in one continuous run.

Is the cartridge a Shure V15 Type III LM? That was the stock cart for many of the 700 series tables, and a good one. I have an JICO "SAS" replacement stylus for that cartridge that I played only once, as I preferred my tried and true Pickering XSV5000 with MUCH costlier stylus.

Email me if your table has the V15 Type III and if interested in the best replacement stylus made (Google "JICO SAS", aka Super Analog Stylus, a specially shaped diamond).

The Dual 721 tonearm wires terminate at the headshell as pins into which the cartridge holder slides to make a connection. I own both the 721 and 701 (which uses the identical headshell system) and don't intend to mess with the tonearm wiring. That said, your RCA cables may originate from RCA jacks beside the motor, and all you need do is connect new ones. More likely, they emerge as slip-on tab connectors from tabs on a plate to which the tonearm wires are soldered - even better! In that case, buy the phono cables you like plus a pair of "crimp barrel" gold plated tab connectors from Madisound of the proper size for the tabs. Cut off RCA plugs from one end of your phono cables, strip the insulation, crimp the exposed wires into the tab "barrels", slip on to the tabs and you've got upgraded cables!
I've done this and found it simple and effective.
If you like the 721 sound as much as I do, invest $95 in one of Bill Neumann's custom wooden bases. Prop the feet of the wooden base atop some resonance control thingys (the rubber/cork/rubber squares from Meniscus Audio are the cheapest I know of) and you're just about at budget.

If it were me, a nice, used Bottlehead Seduction would be the next "cost-effective" upgrade, but $300 or so ain't chump change.

Upgraded mat would probably come next (lots of options), but we're far enough down the road already... :))

If your 721 has been competently refurbished, I'll bet you decide it's a keeper.

it was refurbished by EastCoastDual in Virginia Beach. Worksheet is supposed to come with it along with a cd with the owners manual and maintenance manual. I have a mat that I made which is cork on one side and dynamat on the other that i copied from www.tnt-audio.com some time ago. I guess I finally get a chance to try it out. I plan on listening to it for a few weeks before I take a crack at the RCA's. Swampwalker, that's probably gonna be the best route but it may be above my skill level. I've made power cables, speaker wires, Op-Amps in my old Parasound DAC, and have done Auricaps and torrordial transformers in my Adcom 545's but I've never attempted to wire a tonearm.

i noticed i made a typo, I paid $199, not $299...