There is plenty of good advice to consider above. The only thing I would add is you should consider getting a tube or high quality solid state pre amp with phono stage or an outboard phono stage. I would suggest something a little better than Sdcampbell's suggestions above. EAR 834P, AR PH3, Sonic Frontiers Phono 1, AcousTech. A really good way to go would be an Audible Illusions M3A preamp, which gives you an outstanding phono stage suitable for higher output cartridges. Any of the reference Grados would be an excellent choice. I personally would not use a digital preamp for an analog system. You may want to consider a DAC to go with your Sony if you are not happy with its sound as a stand alone (obviously you're currently using it only as a transport). My guess is you can do better than the Lexicon, but not having heard it can't say. That's another subject, but if you want to go analog a good analog preamp is your first step (that and your source of course). Good luck. You will be amazed I think!
Convert Me
I have gone back and forth on the re-entry to analog issue. I like convenience, I want to spend my time listening rather than futzing, I'd rather have fewer pieces of gear than more. But, I love great sound and I'm interested in experimenting, and fairly often I see a review of new LP that makes me think, "I'd like to try that."
So, if I were to take the plunge and give it go, I'd like people's recommendations on what to get. Cost is an issue, but not a big issue - let's say $5k budget, I'd rather not spend that much if I didn't need to, I'd spend more if it was essential. My goal would be to get an analog rig that, when I added up all the additional overhead, would make me see the clear benefits over CD.
Listening preferences are Rock/pop with healthy doses of blues and jazz. I don't listen to classical. Current equipment is:
Sony DVD-S7700 as a transport
Lexicon MC-12 preamp
Krell KAV-250a amplifier
Dynaudio Contour 3.0's.
What do you recommend? Is there a path given the variables I describe that has a good chance for me to re-adopt the LP as a medium for my music collection?
Please, no digression into the overall worthiness or sacredness of LP's - there's plenty of threads with everybody's viewpoints on that. This is an avenue I've been going back and forth in my mind for the past couple years, and I'd value anybody's viewpoint on the likelihood of success before I start, as well as the most likely path to success if I start. Thanks, Kirk