Man that Artisan Fidelity Garrard makes me drool every time I see it!!   

In the meantime, this is the latest addition to the analog family in my setup.  I don't think I posted it here on Changstar...pardon me if I did already (Townshend Rock 7, Helius Silver Ruby Tonearm, Merlin 3 DC Power Supply, Van Den Hul Grasshopper III GLA MC Cartridge):

So I've been testing a bunch of things and trying to figure it out. Unfortunately, changing vinyl setups is a ton of work and most of the stuff I have is low-money, which can sound awesome, but it means I'm only hearing a small section of what's available. But, I've come to conclusions.

1: All of the preamps I've tried (including an EC preamp) have noticeable noise floor when I turn up the volume to some normal but louder listening volumes (gonna guess somewhere between 70 and 90db). This is when I haven't plugged in the table yet. Maybe there's a better way to solve it.

2: The Ortofon 2M Black is an awesome cartridge. While I like the AT440MLA and I'll keep it setup on my other table, the Ortofon has some great bass extension and resolution and isn't as bright as the AT. The EC preamp really opened things up and made a difference, but the TCC-750 and the Rega TT were surprisingly capable.

3: Preamps make a bigger difference to vinyl's sound than amps, though I'd say on par with DACs, having recently compared a bunch of amps recently

4: Marv is right, it seems like there isn't a consistent upgrade path, there are like 4 going in different directions. In fact, I was thinking of how a tube preamp might sound and I thought to get the resolution I'd need, I'd probably want a great transformer, like the one in the Studio an then I realized I was $$$$ in the hole and I hadn't even bought a $$$$ tone arm, a $$$$ cart or a $$$$ table. It'd be nice if it was a bit more settled like everyone is with the HD800,HD650,HE-6,Stax-something and the UERM.

5: You sure can get a lot of table for $$: My AT440MLA w/ Technics SL-1200 Mk II sounds pretty great out of the TCC-750. And with the power mod, I bet it'd sound even better. I wonder if I'd like a MC cart like the Denon 103R even more.

Also, I'm super curious to try a MC cart as I've only tried MM carts. I'm hoping it will be less likely to pop and click which drives me crazy.

Actually, all of this testing has made me feel pretty happy with the Rega/Ortofon setup as my main. I am curious about the sound of a tube preamp and an MC cart though.

The number one thing I'd like to change is to have less pops and clicks with my records. I have a little cleaning brush but it seems to do nothing.

So I've been testing a bunch of things and trying to figure it out. Unfortunately, changing vinyl setups is a ton of work and most of the stuff I have is low-money, which can sound awesome, but it means I'm only hearing a small section of what's available. But, I've come to conclusions.

1: All of the preamps I've tried (including an EC preamp) have noticeable noise floor when I turn up the volume to some normal but louder listening volumes (gonna guess somewhere between 70 and 90db). This is when I haven't plugged in the table yet. Maybe there's a better way to solve it.

3: Preamps make a bigger difference to vinyl's sound than amps, though I'd say on par with DACs, having recently compared a bunch of amps recently

4: Marv is right, it seems like there isn't a consistent upgrade path, there are like 4 going in different directions. In fact, I was thinking of how a tube preamp might sound and I thought to get the resolution I'd need, I'd probably want a great transformer, like the one in the Studio an then I realized I was $$$$ in the hole and I hadn't even bought a $$$$ tone arm, a $$$$ cart or a $$$$ table. It'd be nice if it was a bit more settled like everyone is with the HD800,HD650,HE-6,Stax-something and the UERM.

5: You sure can get a lot of table for $$: My AT440MLA w/ Technics SL-1200 Mk II sounds pretty great out of the TCC-750. And with the power mod, I bet it'd sound even better. I wonder if I'd like a MC cart like the Denon 103R even more.

Also, I'm super curious to try a MC cart as I've only tried MM carts. I'm hoping it will be less likely to pop and click which drives me crazy.

I'm going to guess that at least most of these preamps are using low grade DC wall-wart power supplies? Good power is critical for a quiet phonostage. These things have to apply 30-60+dB of gain to a tiny signal, and that's just not easy to do, especially with a $10 wall-wart. I wish there was a miracle $100 phono pre, but there just isn't. There's no way to cheat, you just have to do the engineering and spend on parts, and that ultimately costs money. My phono pre, retail, costs about what my turntable retails for. I got mine second hand, but it still wasn't cheap - same price as a Yggdrasil.

Surface noise is a function of the individual cart and its stylus profile, not MM vs MC. The 2M Black's Shibata is NOT a forgiving stylus, either of VTA or of surface cleanliness. Get yourself a good record cleaning machine, they are absolutely worth it. A brush and a bit of cleaning fluid is simply no substitute.