… But not quite “seems nice”?
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For equipment it has to be above $10k to get that classification. I think Al can approve cable as low as $3k.
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Sutherland Little Loco Mk 2 at $3,800. It is a trans-impedance phono stage best partnered with low impedance moving coil cartridges. No need to load it as with a typical MC voltage based phono stage, as it is current based, and the load is a short. Very low noise floor, and subtle details are revealed effortlessly. Mine, yes I own one, is partnered with a Mutech Hayabusa MC cart with a coil resistance1.5 ohms. Hi impedance MC, think Benz, Moving Iron, think Peter Lederman’s Soundsmith or Grados, and MM cartridges need not apply.
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I had it in my home for a bit and it did seem nice. And it handles lots of different cartridges. You just need to put electrical tape over the dozen LED lights.
Unless you like LED lights.
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Darth Vader in center?
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Having a dead center visual cue helps the brain process image placement. It’s like Darth Vader’s right there in the room with you. His rendition of Fields of Gold is so palpable, it feels like he’s in the room giving a private concert. You could almost reach out and touch his Durasteel armor, but you know better than to tempt fate with a Sith lord.
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Warp hole! To the dark side!
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After coming back from vacation, I felt I’m losing the dead-center visual a little from my system. Could it be from the new M-2 fuses I added, the change of the piggy tail for the SDFB, the Herbies glider instead of XSSH footers, or just jet lag?
I will start with replacing the sluggo from R/S to P/C in P15, next I may adjust speaker angles if needed. When the system starts to loose a little magic, it’s the most dangerous time for me. This is when I became trigger happy with the buy button.
I just ordered 4 of the magic B2 for controlling water molecules. Luca said it helps, among many things, on centering images. Then there is AUVA 100 footers that I may try next. In my experience the more expensive the tweak go, the better it works (not absolute, but often😆).
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The AUVA footers are a consideration for my FR30’s. I have concrete under carpet and their spike design could work well. I also have to consider how much rake angle I can get. The fairly tight vertical dispersion and height of the tweeter (added with my 9 foot listening distance) is more than the stock feet can accommodate. The rear cones are screwed all the way up, and the front ones are removed. Raising the chair (again) or putting other things, like Herbie’s pucks, under the rear cones, seem the only options.
So, I am very interested in your findings. A quality decoupler that can help with rake angle would be a godsend.
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If you need a dead center point to fool your brain try these little buttons:
I use them to focus the image on the front wall (and others on the side walls), they contribute also to define the soundstage boundaries
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Herbie Puck/Glide may work great in your case. Get the titanium one, and the giant-sized look great with FR30s. Titanium gave a richer and warmer sound, and air-tight bass in my system. It is only when compared to XSSH that I heard tiny bit of dampen sound, and it could be because of the furniture-slide plastic material it used at the bottom. But no one will hear this without hearing XSSH metal footers first (it has a thinner but not thin sound compared to Herbie if that makes sense). If you use two in the back that would raise the rear higher and may produce a perfectly balanced sound at the same time. I almost want to try put two XSSHs (they are 1/4" higher) in the back and just to keep two Herbie’s in the front for each speaker, but I do not know what my wife will think about that. 
I sent an email to Stack Audio who sells AUVA, I like the look of 70 better than 100, but I want to know which one is more suitable for FR30s, and what additional sonic benefit, if any, 100 will bring.
While I’m not a fan of “one box” solutions, your McIntosh is a beautiful thing.
My advice would be to audition a phono pre that you can return if you don’t hear an improvement worth paying for.
Finally, if you can find a used Pass Labs XP-25 there’s a good chance you’ll like it.
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Thanks my friend! if the magic is still lacking after all the tricks that I am planning in my mind to do today, I will see how the water molecules voodoo does next. I think AUVA footers may be the best cure for imaging as my next step.
SR products just never warm me up for some reason. They seem to produce the strangest tweaks and devices on a yearly basis. I will try to resist SR’s rabbit hole until all hopes fail. 
But your recommendation may push me into that deep one, and I surely hope I do not need to contemplate that yet.
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I agree with you, period. But I went for the Black Box following our mentor, he was right once again. So I added the little buttons to my order due to a special offer at the time (still valid today on The Cable Co).
B2s IME provide bigger results. As always it depends on the aim you want to achieve in your room, I suggested the little buttons having read your post about centering image issue, otherwise I prefer not promoting SR stuff.
As usual we are on the same mood, my friend.
Enjoy your tweaks.
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Thanks for the reply. I haven’t seen dimensions for the AUVA footers, especially the threaded bolt length which would help with rake issue.
this link has their footer spec. M8 thread screw is 1.25 long, same as PSA stock footer. That may be an issue.
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I got the AUVA 70s for my FR20 speakers. I needed a little longer screw to get the tweeter up to ear level. I bought these on Amazon.
There are other lengths available under different brands. These are also called grub screws.
The AUVA 100s are a larger diameter and have more of the vibration absorbing material. They are also taller than the 70s. If you can afford them, I would go with the 100s for the FR30s. They also offer three lengths of spikes.
One thing I like about the AUVAs is that they are not rated by weight range of the speaker. If down the road you change speakers, you don’t need to buy new footers.
Josh at Stack Audio was very responsive to email and was kind enough to send me the longer spikes at no additional charge.
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Do the Auvas allow you to set any kind of rake angle? They don’t look like they have any compliance to be able to tilt & still work effectively.
Unlike the cone tips supplied by PS Audio, the AUVAs are flat on the bottom and would not sit flat if you were trying to adjust the rake angle. However, you might be able to compensate by using different length spikes on the same footer. There are three spikes per footer. I would recommend emailing Josh to see what he has to say.