Which to upgrade first: Turntable or Phono Preamp

Direct Drive TT can suffer from "cogging" where electric servo motor is applying force on-off-on etc. to spin platter but this was mainly a issue for cheaper model DD's and had been virtually eliminated in reference vintage DD's this is not a issue in current designs. Servo motors "hunting and pecking" for correct speed can and will introduce noise but this is up for debate as to what effect it has on overall sound. Any TT whether it is belt or thread driven, idler wheel, rim drive or DD has some kind of issue it is trying overcome to spin it's platter at a consistent 33.3 RPM, pick you poison.

I read that direct drive turntable tends to be noisy because of the motor directly driving the platter.

You’d better try to detect anything like that, why don’t you just find someone or some place to spin some records on top class DD turntable? I have 6 of them in my listening room and I have no idea what those people are talking about, because they are (direct drive TTs) absolutely quiet in my system. 

There are also reviews that shun detachable head shells.

Use both types of tonearms, if you think you can use one cartridge forever then you don’t need a headshell, but if you have many cartridges you need removable headshell. Believe me, a cartridge alone (or your phono stage) is what you have to think about, not additional connection via headshell or direct connection to a cartridge. The difference is so small, I bet you can’t detect it in a blind test.

I'm curious as to what direction you went.  Also, I'm wondering why there is no mention of speakers in this thread.

Opinions are like?......

If you can go audition turntables and phono stages rather then listening to the opinions of armchair critics.

You came to the right place for opinions and the wrong place for validation.

Hi @truex14.   Thanks for reminding me to come back to this post.   I've been meaning to do it, but was being lazy.  

Anyway,  I've decided to go with upgrading the phono stage first.  I have auditioned 3 phono stages, and let me share my experience here.   The 3 phono stages are PS Audio Stellar,  Parasound JC3+, and Herron VTPH-2A:

PS Audio Stellar:   This is the least expensive of the 3 phono stages, plus with the trade in of my Vincent PHO 701, it's an incredible deal.   The Stellar probably sounds the most "exciting or lively" out of the 3.  Very forward sounding.   Very quiet background.  Decent sound stage and bass.  Probably a little more analytical sounding than the other 2.  

Parasound JC3+:  My first impression of the sound was 'silky smooth'. Also very quiet.   Good bass response, with a good punchiness.  Not super punchy, but I did like the bass.   Great open sound stage.  Not as exciting sounding as the Stellar, but more musical and easy to listen to.

Herron VTPH-2A:  The Herron is just a tiny bit less quiet than the other 2, but still very quiet.  I wonder if it is due to the nature of tube amp never going to be as quiet as solid state.   Just my unscientific guess.   I would describe the sound as very neutral and natural with a bit of warmth.   I feel like I'm listening to the music and not the phono preamp.   Maybe not as silky smooth, or as punchy as the JC3+,  but does sound more musical.  a tad warmer, with better sound stage and details.   I'm talking about very small difference here comparing to the JC3+.

At the end,  I have decided to keep the Herron.   It was a very close call between the Herron and the JC3+.   I can easily be just as happy with the JC3+, had I not heard the Herron.   The Stellar is not a bad sounding preamp,  I can probably live with this also, had I not heard the other 2.  In my opinion, all 3 phono stages are very good.  In the end, it comes down to personal taste.   Now that I've owned the Herron for about 2 months, it continues to sound so natural that I really feel that it has disappeared from my analog pipeline. 

I'm very happy with my decision to go with the Herron.   I have never heard of the Herron until it was mentioned here.   There are not a lot of professional reviews out there, but there is certainly a huge fan base in this forum, to a point that makes this a legendary product.   I'm glad I was able to purchase one of the very last VTPH-2A.   Keith Herron had mentioned to me that he will no longer build any more of this phono stage.   I feel like I'm owning a collectible item. 

On the turntable side,  I have recently decided to purchase the Mofi Ultradeck with the Master Tracker MM cartridge.   So far I'm very happy with it.    It sounds very open and detail.   More quiet than the Project Classic.    Definitely an improvement.   One thing I really don't like about the Project is the tonearm.  it is very finicky.   Every time I lower or raise the tonearm,  it never goes straight up or down.  It always drift to outer edge of the LP.   I wonder if it is related to the Anti-skating mechanism.  I tried different settings and it still behaves the same.  Anyway,  I haven't even tried the Mofi with my Hana ML cartridge yet.   I think the Master Tracker is doing a pretty good job.

Anyone here owns a Mofi Ultradeck?  I would like to hear your experience also.

Hope this helps.   Thanks everyone for their suggestions and opinions.  I have purchased a few components here based on the information I found in this forum.   Thanks again.