Cartridge and Phono advice for Classic 3

Spend $ 1750 on the Phono Preamp then the rest on your cartridge.

Liberty Audio please search the web for reviews etc on this little gem too, theres even one here on Audiogon

And yes i do make them :-)

Good listening

Peter

What Phono section do you currently use? If you like it what is it that you like about it? I am not a real analog nut so I don't want to give you unsound advice about the cartridge. I am sure there are plenty of people with that tone arm who can help.

I dont have an analog set up at the moment. I have just started getting into the market for one since my son has shown me his set up. I do have a number of old LP's that deserve a listen but this will be my first analog setup with my current system.
I'll have to read some on the Liberty Audio...any recommended cartridge that would fit into the $3000 range for this table if I did go this direction?

I think you may be rushing into this. $5000 is a lot of money to spend on your first phono preamp and a cart.. There are big differences sonically between various analog components. What you are doing is no different than someone asking "I'm new to high end audio. Can someone recommend the best $5000 speaker". (I use the speaker example because it sounds like you know audio, just not vinyl.).

I think you need to do some listening, or possibly get a more entry level setup so you can figure out what you like and don't like, before you make a major commitment on components. There's no shortage of good equipment out there, but that doesn't mean you will like all of it. You may want to give The Cable Company a call. They should be able to send you out a bunch of stuff to try first so you don't end up making a big mistake.