Question What to do first? Stylus of preamp upgrade?

[Feelio]

I have a quite modest setup with an Audio-Technica LPW40WN turntable (with the AT-VM95E cartridge), a Marantz 1050 receiver and a B&W DM 602 speakerset.
When playing vinyl everything sounds quite okay, but the sound could be improved in my opinion. So… I’m looking for an upgrade.

My budget is also modest 😅
I see two options:

Upgrading the stylus to a VM95M, but will this really result in a noticeable sound improvement?

Or… I’m thinking about buying a separate preamp.

Right now I’m using the Marantz built-in preamp. I checked separate preamps like the Fosi Audio Box X5 and the the Ifi Zen Air Phone, which receive good reviews in this price range. But will it overclass the built-in Marantz preamp? I have no idea about that. And what if I look into a slightly higher price range, like the NAD PP2E? Is it worth the extra effort, or should I stick with the built-in Marantz preamp?

What would you suggest? Stylus or preamp? Thanks for your input!

 

[Paul AJ]

What sort of budget do you have is the first thing to have in mind because you could go to any length to get better sound.

 

[Feelio]

The Fosi and Ifi preamps are around 100 euro, so starting from there to let’s say 250 euro max. Thank you.

 

[Al ears]

Source first....
Presume you mean the 95ML stylus so yes, that first.

 

[Feelio]

Source first....
Presume you mean the 95ML stylus so yes, that first.

Yes, that’s the one! Thanks for your suggestion.

If use my full budget, I should be able to buy a new stylus and also a preamp like the Fosi or the Ifi. But the question remains: will those overclass the Marantz built-in preamp or not? What’s your opinion about that?

Also, how can I find that out by myself? I mean without buying it and testing it out of course. Which specs are important to check and compare with both preamps?