Help a vinyl newbie improve his rig

Since you like tubes you should get a nice tube phono preamp.
Croft Acoustics has a nice one for $995.

Yogiboy-

Oh yes - I have been eyeing that Croft for a while!

Scott

When I heard a Debut Carbon in a demo I couldn't believe how fundamentally good that turntable is for $399. There are, however, a few of minor upgrades that could yield significant improvements:

1) Swap out the Ortofon Red stylus for a Blue one. This upgrade takes you from a bonded stylus to a nude elliptical one, which not only has a more direct connection between stylus and cantilever, it weighs less and tracks better. No re-alignment or setup required; just pull out the Red stylus and plug in the Blue. As low as $165.

2) Get a Pro-Ject Speed Box II S. These are $129 and provide more tightly regulated speed control as well as more operating convenience. An LP is a physical analogue of the dynamics of the musical performance. The frequencies and pace are added by rotating and tracking it at 33-1/3 rpm. Therefore, the more accurate the rotation, the more real the playback. $129 is cheap change to move up that ladder.

3) Get some kind of vibration draining and isolating platform. Many of them can get pricey, but I got a massive 3-1/2" thick all maple butcher block cutting board from Overstock.com that made quite a noticeable difference for about $90. The unfinished blocks of maple from Mapleshade are also pretty reasonable. Once you get the platform you can experiment with Vibrapod cones and footers (very inexpensive compared to most such products) and even computer keyboard gel wristpads for further isolation.

2" thick end grain board
18x24x3"d edge grain cutting board

You're also on the right track about a phono stage upgrade. I went to a MAGI Phonomenal all-tube phono last August and I can't believe the difference. When they're done right, especially with passive EQ and minimal negative feedback, they really *do* lower the playback noise. Previously noisy records now sail through playback with a dramatic drop in surface noise, pops, and surface glitches.

Johnnyb53 -Thanks for the great ideas. I'm going to give the Ortorfon Blue a shot- it's probably a good education for me to change a cartridge. Worst case scenario I break the turntable and have to buy a new one, which I'm looking for anyway.

I'll let you know how it goes…

Thanks again,
Scott

I used to own a Rega P-25 with a Rega cartridge. I purchased a Dynavector 17D3, which was a significant upgrade. Still not satisfied, I bought a used Basis 2000 with a Rega tonearm. That was a very large improvement over the Rega P-25 turntable. It also was easy, when a Basis Vector tonearm became available, to upgrade the tonearm, which made a more significant difference than the cartridge or turntable change.

So in summary I agree with Rushton that a Basis 2XXX series turntable is a place to start, then a Bassis Vector tonearm when you can find one. Rega makes a nice turntable and tonearm for the money, but IMO it does not compare to a Basis.