how much should I spend to get a better turntable than my current turntable?

@grislybutter 

Congrats. The P3 may be more expensive but how much value do you put on enjoying the music more, and the Rega will last as long as you want it to - better value in the long term.

You can always slip in a Neo power supply and new cartridge on the quiet.

Great little system you have - you could have easily spent more and got less.

Enjoy.

OP,

Congratulations.

How many hours do you have on your new table? Like all equipment there is breaking and the sound tends to get more relaxed and improve over time.

Also, higher end equipment tends to be better in subtle ways… which you become aware of and more appreciative over time. I don’t remember if you kept your old table. But if you did… I bet if you swapped it back in after 100 hours you would be shocked at how poor it sounds in comparison.

So enjoy your new table. I am sure it will bring you years of enjoyment.

late to the party, but my 3 cents here.  many years ago, (i was only 13 and didn't know any better), i bought a new dual 1219.  my step brother worked at a stereo shop, and could get anything at cost, so it was 50% off.  one of my happiest audiophile days was when i literally pitched it into a dumpster after suffering with if for 25 years - its idler drive totally sucked, w/horrible wow/flutter - that you could easily see thanks to its built-in strobe. its return mechanism was totally fiddly after about a year.  i don't even mind that i could have just parked it in storage and sold it to some sucker for $300 today, that thinks they're anything special.  at the time, throwing it into a dumpster felt GREAT!  😁

my step-brother recommended i buy an empire 598, about the same price. i should have listened to him.  because i bought one for my daughter a couple years ago, and i have a rare 498, and a 298 w/980 arm, w/the rare factory anti-skate mechanism.  any of these turntables will outperform a rega p3, when properly set up, and they're pretty indestructible. (i'm familiar w/the p3 as i helped a buddy of mine set his up, and i've helped him tweak it over the years - decent deck, but not up to the performance level of the empires.)  i think the empires are competitive w/pretty-much anything you could buy new for up to $3k retail.  and i think the market agrees, as these have been steadily creeping up in price on the used market.  my empires are damn close to my original oracle delphi (pre mk1) that's been upgraded to mkv specs and fitted w/an o-l silver taper arm and o-l dc motor kit.

my oracle:

daughter's 598:

my 298 w/980 arm:

so, anyone looking for a great deck at a relatively bargain price, keep the vintage empires in mind.

ymmv

doug s.

what about the pictures @sedond ?​​​​​​