You know I have been playing The Rolling Stones half speed master record on my Dual CS 5000 turntable with the Audioacoustic ZenII stabilizer and it sounds great. I recently changed my stylus with a new Grado gold one. I compared it to the CD and I definitely like it better than the CD.
So I'm thinking to myself, do I really need to upgrade my turntable and cartridge? How much of a difference am I going to hear? How much of a difference will I hear with a more expensive phono preamp compared to what is in my NAD preamp? Do I really need to spend more money when I am happy with what I have?
For curiosity sake, I'm thinking about getting something like the $500 Parasound phone preamp and then spend money on expensive RCA cables and do a A/B with what I already have. If the improvement is less than 5%, I could send it back. If the improvement is more than 5%, keep it and just stick with my turntable for now.
On the forums there is this push to always get new and improved, but sometimes we have to draw the line and just say, you know what, I'm really happy with what I have.
Turntables are an art form. You have middle of the road turntable. I have never been keen on Grado cartridges.
A lot depends on how much you want to spend, and how carefully you set it up. A Phono preamp is a pretty simple device, and expensive ones are a rip off, and audiophoolery.
What you need is a good silent turntable that runs at the correct speed, without vibration and has good isolation. It is the arm/cartridge combination that really sets them apart. MC cartridges are a problem in many ways. They need a special preamp, they generally are heavier and less compliant. However the loony end sing their praises and so many esoteric arms are high mass, to get the resonance in the right place. So good vintage arms tend to be best for high compliance MM cartridges. Probably the best all round MM cartridge now is the Ortofon Black. Fortunately I have a number of Shure V15 xmr cartridges.
As far as arms are concerned, my favorite is the SME series III arm, as they are highly adjustable and properly damped. The damping is also adjustable.
Exotic cables are a myth. You just need good quality ones. However there is a caveat. The loading capacity of cartridges is not standard, nor cable capacitance nor the capacitance of phono or any RIAA inputs.
So getting this all right is critical, seldom done right and one of the biggest reasons for variable results. So you need to know the optimal loading capacitance of your cartridge. Then select low capacitance cables, and know, or measure, the capacitance of the cables. You must know the loading capacitance of the input. Now you add the lead capacitance to the loading capacitance. Now you subtract that number from the cartridge loading capacitance and then you get a capacitor that equals the value of that subtraction. Then you solder that capacitor in parallel with the input. Usually this is a small component and can be soldered inside an RCA plug.
Unfortunately turntables require obsessional set up, and few perform optimally, because of lack of proper attention to detail. This was all understood in the heyday of the LP era. Now it has been overtaken by unscientific audiophoolery in a big way.
SME series III with Shure V15 xmr.
This rig is 60 years old and still sound superb. Decca pro arm with Decca 4HE, Garrard 301 turntable playing through a 1965 Quad 22 tube preamp.
So, yes you could make an improvement in your turntable sound, assuming the rest of your rig is of commensurate quality. LP systems are NOT plug and play. Good results requires choice of appropriately matching equipment, and obsessional set up and installation. Only you can decide if it is worth the effort.
I have been playing pretty much all media that goes back from now to about 70 years, and have a lot of media, so for me it is worth it. It all makes for good stories and talking points as well. To maintain it is better than modern digital technology though, is nonsense, but it gives it a really good run for its money!
