I also have the Aries, JMW 10 tonearm,but the CAT Mark 111 Pre-amp with phono. I don't believe you can find a better stand alone phono preamp than the CAT's phono section for less than 5000.00. I would look at the cartridge, I am using a Grado Reference High Output and it's an excellent match with the table,arm and CAT. It has a full dynamnic sound with adequate bass in my system. I agree that a change in phono cables probably would only make a limited improvement. Good luck, you have a quality system.
Help LP playback is lacking
My system is awesome playing cd's but when I play vinyl it sounds bright and lacks bass and lower midrange. I am using a VPI Aries,JM 10 inch arm and Benz Ruby H. The rest of my system is a CAT Ultimate preamp, Wolcott Amps, Dunlavy V's, Jps interconnects and Synergistic reference speaker cables. CD playback is Muse 8 and Muse 296. What's the problem?