Weakest Link? Your honest opinions.

Amp & speakers.

If you are going to fiddle with cables, use the LC-1 from the phono stage to the amp and get a nice phono cable like the VPI one for the tonearm to phono stage. That's how I have my Scout>Trigon VanguardII/VolcanoII>MD-209 set up.

It's been quite a few years since I posted a comment on A-gon, so hello again. To get immediately to my point, I think Elizabeth's comments have much merit, but I'm going to be even more fundamental. When starting to improve a fairly basic audio system, start by looking at the components that are transducers: phono cartridges and speakers. Converting mechanical energy to electric energy, and vice versa, requires a well designed, linear transducer. If the signal isn't
accurately converted, then even the best amplification chain won't really help. Hence, I think I'd start with upgrades to your cartridge and speakers. Just my opinion, FWIW, after 45 years as a middle income audiophile...

SD as a lower income music lover I completely respect your position, but find myself on the other side of the fence.

While the distortions of transducers are orders of magnatude greater than those of electronics, I find the distortions of electronics much less consonant with the fabric of the music and much more jarring to the ear. Not to put too fine a point on it, electronics have electronic sounding distortions and transducers do not. I would rather live with pedestrian loudspeakers and phono cartridge and fine electronics than the other way around.

And this brings up a central point, we all hear differently and the hobby has room for all of us, even if we don't always agree.

Dear Narticus,
You really asked an impossible question, because none of us has heard your system and none of us knows what you are after, what it is that you find unsatisfying. My first thought is that you might benefit from eliciting the opinion of a local audiophile friend, preferably someone more advanced than you. Ask him or her to come over for several hours of listening, preferably spread out over several different sessions using a variety of sources and musical genres. Then you and that person can have an intelligent discussion of the most cost-effective ways to improve your sound.

"Anti-cables" were mentioned. Paul Speltz makes them. He is one of the smartest most thoughtful guys in audio. I knew him for years before he got into the business. IMO, his products are very very good for the money and maybe even disregarding cost as a factor. When I don't make my own ICs and speaker cables, I use the ones made by Anti-cable. Far far more neutral than anything ever made by Cardas, for one example, and IMO of course.

Power line conditioners are a pit of snakes. As someone else mentioned you can easily harm the performance of your integrated amp by plugging it in to a PLC that limits current in any way. I would NOT start there.

Slikrik obviously wants attention, and I cannot believe that so many of the responses rewarded him with what he wants. His post should have been deleted on day one.

I was in a similar situation a while back, wondering what was the `weak` link in my system as it turned out it was the speaker cables for me, do what I did with the cables, go to a local audio shop and inquire about in home trials worked for me. Bottom line is what you perceive as ideal sound is only for you to decide, don`t go throwing $$$ at your system when could be as easy as a cable swap.

first time poster:)

Good luck!