Where's the next weak link in my analog chain?


Currently using the following: 

Mofi Ultradeck w/ MasterTracker cart
- Powered by AQ Thunder power cable 

Sutherland 20/20 mk1 with LPS (stock power cable) 
- Zu Mission mk1 phono from TT to pre, Zu Mission mk1 from pre to amp 

I don't have much left that I think I could do on this end before upgrading the table entirely. I'm curious where you would spend your next dollar? 

MC Cart
Phono cable
Interconnect 
Power cable to phono 

Beyond that I think this set up will be pretty well maxed out and it would be time for a new TT to start squeezing out more. 

128x128displayname

@slaw I have an AQ Hurricane on my amp and my dac. A friend was over and he said to try the hurricane from the DAC on the TT. I initially thought that's a dumb idea but we have it here so why not. I was honestly very surprised by what I heard. I continued to experiment over the next several months and I decided that was going to be a worthwhile upgrade. It made a larger impact than changing IC and speaker cables in some instances. I couldn't wrap my brain around funding a hurricane in that slot, so I decided to hunt down a Tornado first to see how that performed. Luckily I was happy with the results so the tornado is officially in the system. 

That's interesting, not a lot of impressions regarding power cords on tt.

As far as I know, there is no stock power cord with Sutherland phono stages. I bought a used Insight and upgraded to the linear power supply and spoke with Ron Sutherland who guided me through the board install. Really nice guy. He said people want to choose their own power cables so he doesn't provide one. The phono stage power cord is the most important one since it is at the very beginning of the signal path.

The cord could be a pretty inexpensive way to improve the sound, especially since you have the LPS on the 20/20. Nice phone stage.There are always close outs on cables and a decent $100-200 cable should provide a big benefit over whatever "stock" cable you have.

@sokogear 

 The 20/20 LPS did come with a standard power cable. I do plan to experiment with different power cables at some point in the coming weeks, but not rushing for it unless I find a great deal on one of my preferred cables. 

@displayname Ron must have changed his policies. I spoke with him around 4-5 years ago. Or maybe because the 2020 has 2 separate power supplies he provides cords?