Does a turntable make a DRAMATIC difference?

Interesting question. At the surface, yes absolutely. Audiophile tables and associated gear are a real step up ($5K level is trounced by $10k level, which is trounced by the $20K level, which… you get the idea. But..

You should be getting very good performance out of what you have. While at the budget / mid-fi side of things, it should sound better. This is where vinyl really gives digital the run for the money. I agree mostly with @newbee. Initial setup needs to be done right. I disagree about maintenance. There should be no maintenance in between cartridges.

Sounds like we agree on audio equipment. I don’t want to fiddle, just listen to music. That is what I do. I would not mod anything. I don’t touch it, except to use.

I recommend finding a competent dealer. Pay him to come out and optimize your system. I know the perfect guy if you live around Portland Oregon. I could see this being a “would you optimize”… “wow that sounds great”… “I’d like to upgrade”.

My rule of thumb is 2x to 3x cost. If I were you I would upgrade table… I used to have a low level Rega. It did not last long in my system. I now have a Linn LP12. I love the sound and the fact that I can do incremental upgrades to bring it up to a high end $30K table (mine is close). My dealer loves turntables… he loves setting them up, and knows exactly what it should sound like. If I want an upgrade he comes out (spends the afternoon chatting with me) and brings it back with upgrades, verifies it sounds perfect. Did I mention it is a good thing to have a good relationship with your dealer?

Unfortunately, there is a dearth of customer oriented dealers in my area (Long Island, NY). I get the feeling that all they want is your money. It’s a very major metropolitan area. You would think it would be different. I get envious reading here about dealers in smaller markets that are so solicitous.

You may just prefer digital.

I had always heard great things about the Rega RP6 with the Exact2 cartridge, so I bought one.  I also purchased a Pass labs Xp15 phono stage to go with the rest of my system; CJ ET5 preamp and CJ tube amps.  My CD player is a Modwright Oppo 105D.

Every time I played an album on the RP6, I got ticked off.  So ticked off that I wanted to throw a sneaker at it.  It sounded awful, terrible, lousy.

I went to my stereo store (Goodwin's High End in Mass.)   The rep basically told me that if I wanted to get better analog sound, I was going to have to spend a lot more money, and if I didn't do that, he suggested selling the analog stuff and getting out of it entirely and upgrading my CD playback/DAC.

I went from a Rega Rp6 with a MM cartridge to the RP10 with the Apheta 2 MC cartridge.  I could tell in the first 30 seconds of the first song that I made the right decision.  The music sounded great, the soundstage was there, and the dynamics were incredible.  I am very happy with the sound of my analog playback, and when I want to listen, really listen, to music, I always fire up the turntable-- it's that much better.

The overall cost of the RP10 with the Apheta 2 and the Pass Xp15 was about $7,500.  That was a lot of money for me, and it was worth every cent.

So, I went the "great value" route with my TT and cartridge and wanted to throw a sneaker.  When I listen to my upgraded TT and cartridge,  I want to throw a party.

Whatever work for you, your ears and your budget.  My only advice is to avoid incremental changes; it's more expensive in the long run.  Make bigger jumps on individual pieces of gear.  You have to guess right, but it worked for me.

OP,

Wow. Ok. You really have no excuses. Get your butt out there and use some people skills and find a great dealer, if you lived in central Louisiana or Northern Oklahoma… but New York? You should be ashamed of yourself. I spent lots of time out there. You have the world at your feet. If you can’t communicate with someone from New York, go to Overture in Delaware… they are fantastic. I flew out there to see what they could do for me.

Honestly, this is a problem of your own making. You have all the resources of the world at your feet to solve it.