Most important vinyl component to upgrade first ?

Dear Noslepums: I don't know if you still own the Clearaudio Accurate, SP-10, SME V, Linto phonostage, Bryston amps and DYS speakers.

I know very well all those items but the Linto phono stage.

The SP-10 is IMHO a very respectable TT especialy in nude/naked version ( with out plinth. ) but needs a good TT mat. The Accurate is a good cartridge but not the best match with the V tonearm and not because resonance frequency in between but because other kind of interactions/distortions generated in between. Bryston amps are very good units.

According with Linto owners and Atkinson measurements the Linto is very good performer with the drawback that can't accept the MM/MI alternative that despite what Syntax posted ( IMHO in that topic he really talk with no facts that could serve as foundation on his remarks. IMHO any kind of cartridge deserve the best at phono stage to can shows at its best. ) is always a welcomed alternative.

So what I do it if I was you is to go for a different tonearm to achieve better Accurate performance and from there you could move a head on the other analog links to fulfil your overall music sound reproduction targets.

IMHO what defines where to start a system up grade is the system it self and for any one of us not be sure which your system set up has no real sense to give advise. There is no rules on up grade in any audio system.

If you share your system items you could have more precise answers that could help you in betetr ways.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

What component do you think would be most important soundwise, therefore what would you upgrade first?

Yes, that is correct. :D

3/4, 1, 5, 2

If the table doesn't spin at the correct speed and induces rumble in the playback, do you really want to hear that reproduced precisely while you wait to upgrade the other pieces?

On the other hand, if you build a solid foundation on a good turntable, it will produce music and will only be diluted by the weak links in the chain.

Purchase the best you can afford at the beginning (research carefully, first). It will save you the cost of trading up later (involving time and money).

It's a system, guys, and everything interacts to some degree with everything else. So recommending the best upgrade is difficult without knowing the context. On top of that, many people have never examined specific changes scientifically. I had a direct drive turntable that sounded dynamic and one belt drive that sounded slow, so that becomes a way of characterizing all such units in the future?

The best upgrade might be moving from a rubber belt to a tape drive, to fix the microdynamics and leading notes of instruments.

The best upgrade is the one that makes every other part of the system work better! I would not throw a world-class unipivot on a suspended chassis design without doing my homework regarding interactions and spring rates. But if you get it right, you could make the whole thing MUCH better.

Most of us hobbyists never listen all that critically to all various combinations to find that optimum upgrade. I'm in the process now of trying to do that with plinth design. I have an unsuspended table with a 1" thick top plate, and I'm experimenting with plinth layers and materials (aluminum, steel, Panzerholz, MDF, EAR Isodamp, etc.). Make a change, then do comparative listening & take copious notes. Then change back and make more notes. Then change one other thing and make notes. Change back and make more notes. Eventually, I hope to learn what will be the best upgrade for my system.

But in a generic sense, the answer is too dependent on the context to be useful. Just my $.02.