Need Help with System

Thanks Doug.. One thing I forgot to mention is the I have an original VPI PLC. I was thinking about upgrading to the Mk4 level also. What is SAMA? What about mods to the RB300? Are they worth it? (Cable and mechanical upgrades - for VTA? ) Thanks, Dan

Caterham, I have to replace the Blue Point Special anyway as it got damaged in a recent move. Thanks for the suggestion about the Dynavector.

Onhwy, Well yes and no... At the risk of offending all the analog lovers here look at http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/News/ces2001.htm The Grieg will convert the phono input directly to a 24/192 digital signal and then feed it to my Delius. Or as you suggest I can use a Phono pre and then go into the analog inputs as the Grieg has both phono and analog. I have not heard this but I am sure it will be of very good quality given dCS’s professional D/A and A/D products. I will of course audition this at home when it comes out later this year. But I do not want to focus on the dCS gear. I would like opinions about obtaining the best possible sound near my budget.

Well I see I offended at least one person with my last post. If I offended anybody please accept my apologies. However my focus of this thread was intended to be the improvement of my existing analog rig and not getting into a debate about the merits of "digitizing" the analog signal. Doug I thank you for clarifying the SAMA acronym – much appreciated. I have heard good things about the Pass Xono. I can always bypass the dCS gear and use a conventional preamp too. – Dan

Thanks to all that have replied so far, and thank you again for keeping an open mind. Doug and Doug S. I agree that a full-blown analog rig would probably sound better than a digitized RIAA. Even dCS says that true analog buffs might want to keep their phono preamp. I don't know how it will sound either, but I am assuming that an analog signal sampled at 24bits at 192 kHz should be a huge improvement over one sampling using 16 bits at 44.1 kHz. dCS is using the same technology in their professional grade A/D player and it can be argued they are the best of the best in that regard.

Doug S I am also not a huge fan of the Redbook CD playback - that is why I purchased the dCS gear. :-) But what is nice about this whole setup is that I can incrementally improve it without giving up anything in the digital rig. I can add a phono stage and "sample" it at 24/192 or I can purchase a killer pre-amp (with a different budget) and feed the analog outs of the dCS D/A into the pre. The preamp would have to be top notch, though...

As far as which is better – updating the table, the stylus, or the arm, well that is what I need you folks for. Keep the suggestions coming. I appreciate all who have commented so far. Cheers - Dan