What should I upgrade first?

[Al ears]

This one with the phono preamp. It seems to get great reviews!

CAMBRIDGE CXA61 INTEGRATED STEREO AMPLIFIER

Half a decade after the CX range redefined performance at its price point, it’s time to reimagine, reengineer and reinvigorate. The all-new CXA61 and CXA81 integrated amplifiers build on the foundations laid (and the Awards won) by CXA60 and CXA80, but with a fresh and progressive...

vinylsound.ca

CAMBRIDGE DUO MOVING COIL & MOVING MAGNET PHONO PREAMP

Squeeze every inch of detail from your record collection with our highest quality moving magnet and moving coil phono stage, with integrated headphone amp; the Duo Phono Preamplifier. SPECIFICATIONS: MAX POWER CONSUMPTION: 10WCARTRIDGE SUPPORT: Moving Magnet | Moving CoilGAIN @ 1KHZ: MM...

vinylsound.ca

A good phono preamp but there are perhaps better for the money.
do you ever think you will be buying moving coil cartridges? If not you don't really need to pay for it to be included in a preamp.

 

[dupree]

A good phono preamp but there are perhaps better for the money.
do you ever think you will be buying moving coil cartridges? If not you don't really need to pay for it to be included in a preamp.

Well I figured I would get that upgrade just in case. What preamps do you recommend in that range?

 

[dupree]

PS. I found an instrc

I found a manual on vinyl engine, and can’t see any option to disable auto lift. Sometimes, transporting a turntable upsets this mechanism. You may need to move the arm carefully towards the end, obviously with stylus raised, and hope the mechanism catches, then operates normally.

Yeah I asked on vinylengine and one guy said the base of the tonearm might have shifted a bit to the right when moving it and the needle isn't hitting the runout groove.

 

[Al ears]

Well I figured I would get that upgrade just in case. What preamps do you recommend in that range?

It may have had a price increase recently but was once cheaper than the Duo however this may depend on where you live but I would recommend the Thorens MM-008 phono preamp

 

[dupree]

It may have had a price increase recently but was once cheaper than the Duo however this may depend on where you live but I would recommend the Thorens MM-008 phono preamp

Thank you for the recommendation!

A poster on vinylengine also recommended in upgrading my tonearm wand to this one.

http://www.schopper.ch/index.php?page=tp63_uprade

 

[Al ears]

Thank you for the recommendation!

A poster on vinylengine also recommended in upgrading my tonearm wand to this one.

http://www.schopper.ch/index.php?page=tp63_uprade

that would certainly give you more choice in which cartridges you could fit.

 

[dupree]

that would certainly give you more choice in which cartridges you could fit.

Yes, it's heavier and has the ability to top mount cartridges.

However, I've already got this one and invested into it so it'll have to do for now. But certainly an upgrade idea for down the road.

 

[Gray]

...the base of the tonearm might have shifted a bit to the right when moving it and the needle isn't hitting the runout groove.

If the above was true, you would be able to clearly see that the stylus isn't reaching the run-out.

 

[dupree]

So I received and hooked up my Cambridge amp and pre-amp this weekend and I'm very impressed! My system is sounding pretty great with the Grado cartridge and Cambridge gear, even with my Sears professional series speakers (which will be the next upgrade). But yes, very happy with the purchases. Thanks to everyone on here who were big helps!