Willing to be proved wrong.

This is not an endorsement, but to find/buy the "Little Rat" RS phono preamp you need to go to radioshack.com. You can search for "phono preamp" or I believe the catalog number is 970-1018. For $25, it isnt bad - I don't know of anything better for the price, except, maybe, the phono section of any old receiver or integrated amp that you might find in your garage, or your neighbor's garage, or a local thrift store.

The lower priced Stanton or an inexpensive Grado are good recommendations. Your Stanton may have been a little too compliant for your tonearm and the less expensive cartridges may be better matches. I think one reason a lot of people jumped on the cd bandwagon early on (before cd players sounded good, which I think they do now), is that they were trying to use the wrong cartridges for their tonearms, and especially over-hyped low mass high compliance cartridges with inexpensive medium to high mass tonearms. They then compounded the problem by trying to track them at the lowest ratings for their cartridges and ended up damaging their records. Stay with an inexpensive cartridge and, unless you have a test record and an oscilliscope, set the tracking weight at the maximum recommended for the cartridge.

David, Elmuncy, the Little Rat I bought from Radio Shack only requires one nine volt battery, and it lasts a long time. No charger needed, just buy another battery. Honestly, it isnt very good compared to, for examples, the phono section of an old Mission Cyrus One integrated that I have around or an Adcom 565 preamp that I tried, or any of the receivers or integrated amps I used to have. But, it's ok.

Elmuncy, try a new cartridge with your record player, an inexpensive one, and use something to remove dust and reduce the static. Btw, they're putting ticks and pops into some cds to make them sound more like vinyl.

Unless you are in love with the technology of vinyl record playing and want to spend more money than you appear to, the chief reasons to have a turntable nowadays are 1) to play your old records and 2) to go scavenger hunting in thrift shops and garage sales like DK does and find stuff cheap that may not be available on cd. I keep one for the first purpose because there's enough on cd to interest me.

I'd go for a nice new inexpensive belt drive with an inexpensive cartridge. Don't overspend on the cartridge. Try a local dealer if you are near one. That way you can get some hands-on help if you need it. Or give the guys at the mail-order and online places a call; Music Direct and Jerry Raskin sell inexpensive tables - I don't konw if they discount. Smaller, but probably less bewildering selection and a discount can be found through Reference Audio Video in Torrance Cal. RAV has been in business for a long long time, mail order by telephone before the internet, and are very helpful really good guys. www.reference-av.com, or call them at 1-800-947-4434.