Should I get a new cart, TT or phono stage?

what you must consider is how far you will up grade? if you are going to move only a notch or 2, there will probably be very little imporvement. if you are going to move up 5 or 6 notches(out of 10) then the difference will be much more apparent, although, it will be dependant on your weekest link. if you buy a top of the line clearaudio tt but keep the same cart an/or phono stage the improvement will be limitted to to their ability and so forth up the chain. my advise would be if you are going to do it make sure you are committed to seeing it through, and move up the latter the furthest you feel you can comfortably afford. in the end, which probably there never will be, you will be glad you did. Vinyl, not just music, but a way of life.

I think AudioFiel's advice is on the money. However, don't necessarily believe that the dealer aligned the cart correctly. I'd go w a better phono stage but also buy an alignment protractor and double check the alignment. At that level, probably one of the $20-30 mirrored protractors would be the way to go.

I agree with Audiofeil and Buconero117: Keep the Denon. A sub $1K belt drive TT would be a lateral move at best. I recommend:

--Spend a little money on isolation--maybe platform the turntable on a butcher block cutting board with Vibrapods or gel pads under the cutting board

--Maybe try another turntable mat--perhaps a Herbie's Way Excellent in the same thickness as the Denon mat

--Upgrade your cartridge by replacing the Red stylus with a Blue. It's a little cheaper than buying a whole new cartridge. There's quite an improvement in transparency and detail when you go from a bonded to a nude stylus. For a bigger jump in quality (and price), go for an Audio Technica AT150MLX. They go for $300-350 if you know where to look (LPGear and audiocubes2.com).

--Spend most of your upgrade money on a better phono stage. Read up on the A-gon reviews of the ones in your price range. And in addition to the Graham Slee, look into the versatile and highly configurable Musical Surroundings Phonomena II at $600.

Keep the denon actually your system looks good 2 me unless u go hi hi-end the marginal uprades not worth it table is from denons best era imho

I agree with Swampwalker and Phasecorrect - your system looks OK and you would have to spend a bit to make a large improvement. But you should check to see if everthng is setup correctly. First, check your cables. Then, check that you are using the correct cartridge setting on the back of your Phono Box II - it should be set to MM. Then check your TT setup (cartridge, turntable isolation or coupling, etc).

My rule is (and some might disagee with me) that all else being equal (meaning no setup or mechanical issues), your biggest improvements in sound will come from the "outside" in. For analog, that means that biggest changes in sound quality will come from improving cartridge/arm first (they must be considered together), then TT deck, then the phono stage, then preamp, then power amp; with diminishing improvements in overall sound quality as you go down the list. As with all rules there are exceptions, and YMMV.