I would add that ultrasonic cleaning with heroic rinsing in pure water has done a lot for my noise floor. Equal to cartridge and power isolation.
New efficient speakers - best way to keep noise floor down?
I will be getting some new speakers soon and they will be a lot more efficient (98db compared to 86db) My analog front end is very quiet right now, but I'm thinking the noise floor is going to be a lot more noticeable with the new efficient speakers. Just to get ahead of the situation (in case it ends up bugging me) what is the best way to lower that noise floor? I already have a TT and cart that I love and I also have a good record cleaner, so I'm hoping it may be as simple as focusing on the phono pre-amp? Is that a correct assumption? If so, who makes the quietest noise floor phono stage for MM (and I am talking bang for the buck here - under $700 I'm hoping?) If not a phono stage, what else should I be looking into? Thanks!