I'm not impressed! What am I missing???????

First off my door is always open to any Polkies who want to stop by and listen to my rig. Most likely I'll have some good eats too.

Thanks for the kind words about my vinyl rig.

Louie, you need to get over here, I've done some upgrades that will make you want to move in with us!:D

CNH you are right to certain degree. Back in the '80 when vinyl was king it was easier to put together a starter rig as all preamps back then were made for vinyl first, some better than others, so they put in all the necessary ingrediants to accomodate any MM or MC cartridge. Once the digital age kicked in, manufacturers were just putting out line stage preamps.

Now-a-days, with new technology in TTs/Tonearms/Cartridges as well as really good standalone phono preamps, it can be harder to get the synergy thing going simply because there is one more component and cable in the signal path. But that can be a good thing too. The turntable technology has improved the quality of the TT with different and in many cases better isolation, motors, belts, etc. the same with tonearms but the biggest jump in technology has taken place in cartridges. There are much better stylus types, better cantilever materials, better suspension and better MM & MC pickups, etc.

Most preamps that I have audtioned including my beloved Tri-Vista that have phono stages in them just plain suck. They were put into the piece as a courtesty for their customers and no real good components or technology was used. Stand alone phono preamps are the bomb as they've taken the attitude of the manufacturers of the '80s and put everything one could possibly need quality wise and feature wise in the phono pre as it has just one function, to play vinyl. Also, many, many cable manufacturers have come up with really good phono cables which back in '80s were few and far between because most phono cable were hard wired into the tonearm. Now you can switch them out to find the right cable to synergize with the cartridge and phono state. Another plus is that most turntable manufacturers now in all but their bare bones starter tables come with some kind of clamping system and better platter mats if they aren't using delrin or acrylic as the platter.

James there is a lot to consider when putting together a vinyl rig. You can do it on a budget and come out with a great sounding vinyl rig but it takes some doing to get the right components of the vinyl rig together. If you come to my house and we get to sit and listen and BS, I can lead you in the right direction to get a good vinyl rig going on a realitively low budget. I can tell you this, once you get your vinyl rig and processing down it can be one the most rewarding music playback systems you'll ever experience.