Just retired and want to get back to vinyl listening

Well, Inna, why not let the gentleman decide for himself? Throwing away $200 worth of cheap cables is 1% of what he expects to spend; it's rounding error; and when it comes time to upgrade cables, he will know what he wants, what will work with his system. And I'll bet he doesn't have to throw any cables away.

I second the congratulations on your retirement. Life is just beginning!

Don’t buy speakers until you’ve heard modern Magnepans and Quad ESL’s. You may not like them, but if you do, there is simply no comparison for anything like the money.

Spokane isn’t that far from Victoria, Canada, which is home to a really fine audio store, Sound Hounds. They’ve been around since the early seventies, really know, and really care. I’ve spent quite a lot there.

For turntable, consider buying factory direct. If you don’t need suspension, consider a Trans-Fi Salvation turntable and air bearing arm. About $5000 new; although I haven’t heard the table, I do have two of the tonearms, and they punch far, far above their weight.

I suggest that you don't spend more than a few hundred on cables. Let your ears adjust to the sound and then see if you can improve on the cheap cables you already have. You may find, as I have, that cables are the least cost effective way to spend money.

Good luck!

Yep, record cleaning is a whole new thing. Good bang for buck too.

I use ultrasound. In my system, it made almost as big a difference as going from good moving magnet to great moving coil. For 20% of the money - actually, about the cost of a set of fairly costly cables.