Upgrade Advice cart or phono pre amp

Hi goldenear.

I am curious of the opinions on this myself. If $700 is your budget for an upgrade, is this a small or substantial increase over your present cart and pre?

To a large extent it will depend on the tonearm you're using.

For instance, if the Music Hall MMF-5 shown in your system is in fact the current tonearm, most $700 cartridges would be a waste of money.

That arm is basically entry level and incapable of optimizing most of the cartridges at your price point.

YMMV

Knowing more about your current phonosatge and cartridge would help.

Sell the pa 1.2, replace with Primare R20 (which is in your budget) or something nice with tubes, then start thinking about saving for that better table, arm and cart. You have a very nice system, I just think it deserves a better analog source.