Runkster,
I don't know if you're re-checking this thread any more, but just in case, I thought I'd offer you some encouragement with respect to your Thorens: read the "Why can't I hear 20 years of progress?" thread, 8-11-03, in which a man with an old Thorens - tweaked - and cheap MM cartridge can't hear the difference between his old Thorens with original arm and a Rega Planar 25 mounted with a Grado Reference. Before you write this off, he has, like you, quite a decent system. I've believed for a while now that the superiority of modern systems is an assumption which must be questioned. I have a collection of "high-end" record players as well as some humbler ones, and one of the best is an old AR-XA mounted with a Mayware tonearm, which I bought for about $30. Before you replace the tonearm, you should hear it with the aforementioned Shure and tweaks, or simply leap onto the Shure V15, which is highly-regarded by the TAS staff and is quite insensitive to tonearms, one of the best in this regard. Of course, if you already have the Rega, this will allow you to eventually go MC. Have fun.
I don't know if you're re-checking this thread any more, but just in case, I thought I'd offer you some encouragement with respect to your Thorens: read the "Why can't I hear 20 years of progress?" thread, 8-11-03, in which a man with an old Thorens - tweaked - and cheap MM cartridge can't hear the difference between his old Thorens with original arm and a Rega Planar 25 mounted with a Grado Reference. Before you write this off, he has, like you, quite a decent system. I've believed for a while now that the superiority of modern systems is an assumption which must be questioned. I have a collection of "high-end" record players as well as some humbler ones, and one of the best is an old AR-XA mounted with a Mayware tonearm, which I bought for about $30. Before you replace the tonearm, you should hear it with the aforementioned Shure and tweaks, or simply leap onto the Shure V15, which is highly-regarded by the TAS staff and is quite insensitive to tonearms, one of the best in this regard. Of course, if you already have the Rega, this will allow you to eventually go MC. Have fun.