I need your help. I have an ARC Ref 3, ARC 110, Vandersteen 5As, but no turntable.

And the Hana SL mc for $700 is an excellent choice (rather than spending thousands on a Lyra, Van denHul, Myajima ... ). Truth!

Get a new Technics 1200 and a Hana SL mc cartridge. Phono stage can be a Project (very good value for the money). In fact the phono cartridge will have a bigger effect on SQ than any phono stage. Most of which all sound very good indeed! Only a snob would desire an expensive phono stage! Don't you be so foolish to waste thousands on a phono stage!

Project Phono Box not good enough? Try the Bellari tube phono stage (lacking only an extra 0 in its price!).

+1 fsonicsmith! You sound like a sane person!

yogiboy & jperry: So my secondhand CJ Model 3 tube preamp is a piece of junk and I should trash it? Same for my ARC SP6? And my Trevor Lees? Just a few of my preamps! Used and not abused is the way to go! Best bang for the buck! Now where is my Mac C28? Oh, I sold it!

HEA enthusiasts have been fooled for far too long by all the overpriced mult-kilo buck gear meant to deplete your credit card! 

Snob appeal starts with 4 figure price tags. Truth!

-1 bpolletti! Just because the venerable 103 was designed back in 1962 doesn't make it a mediocre piece of cr*p! And the venerated Ortofon SPU's are even older! No, the stock 103 sounds fine and will do the job (play records). Upgrades are available (new stylus/cantilever, wood and metal bodies ... ) for far less than the cost of a new "higher end" cartridge!