Hi Steve
The Woodpecker is a very good table. Clear Audio tables are also very good in that price range. Clear Audio makes some great cartridges.
Your Ortofon Blue is a very good cartridge. It will give you a real taste of vinyl goodness.
If you are thinking of upgrading:
Your first choice is whether to go with a moving magnet (or moving iron) cartridge (high output) or moving coil (low output).
Your second decision will be which phono stage. Not all phono preamps can handle moving coil, low output cartridges. There are some very good cartridges in both categories, moving magnets are usually less expensive.
IMO, the sweet spot in moving coil cartridges is the Hana SL SH, a low output with a Shibata stylus. They go for $750. A phono stage which hits over its price is the Phonomena II+ which also goes for about $750. This combo will get you most of sound quality that a Koetsu Black Goldline ($3,500) and EAR88pb phono stage ($6,000 new). If you go with the Phonomena, at some point you may want to upgrade to the linear power supply. ($650)
Vinyl is not cheap, but if funds permit, IMO, it is the best sounding source for music. (except for high zoot reel to reel, but that's another story, waiting for you once you win Lotto.
Last edited by 2x6spds; 02/19/21 04:12 AM.
