NAD 533 Rega P2 worth upgrading?

I have a Rega P2 that I have modded which is equivalent to your table.First do the arm,rewire it with an Isokinetic rewire from English ebay,they are about the cheapest.Then do the counterweight mod replacing the plastic end stub and change the weight.I have no particular recommendation here,there are a lot of ones out there so look around.Change the platter to a heavier Acrylic or PVC one,a local plastics manufacturer can do it for you cheaply.I am trying PVC at the moment which seems to outdo Acrylic it's your call.I changed the capacitor and resistor in the circuit for the motor you can do a motor upgrade but I'm sceptical.You can damp under the plinth,Music Direct online sell a cheap kit for Rega which you can use.Leave the feet unless you think you have found a solution!There is a sub-platter upgrade,you can change out the old plastic one for an accurately machined aluminium one,once again the Isokinetic from England is good value,I think he might still sell them here on Audiogon.Change the steel ball for a phospher bronze one in the hub for better wear if you want.You can get Isokinetic's new hub also with the sub-platter upgrade but I think it is a bit expensive.It might be worth it.That's a start.

I had a 533 whi9ch is slightly cheaper version of P2 made for NAD.I moved to a 3 and then VPI.I would say your starting out with starter table that should stay that way (sell,pass on,keep as back up).Stefanl upgrades are all good ones but for that money why not have the fun of a new and better deck.What could you spend?MMF or Pro-Ject.$1K would get another level totally.But spending money on a Bellari or Jolida for that phono budget sounds fine.

Money on amp depends on speakers so I won't show my stupidity on that choice.But "volume" is different than tonality and soundstage which I think is what you mean by "presence" and your speaker/room/amp combo even more for that "depth/soundstage" i.e. presence.

Though the more you spend the more the each piece will give.better amp and speakers will allow for enjoyment of better deck/arm/cart/phono) and ) etc and your cart phono combo will give you more Db (volume) with "X" amp and speakers than the deck.If cart is good condition save up for a treat.Maybe a Rega 5 or 7?Gte the Jolida or a used PS GCPH and maybe step up Cartridge (Denon DL-103 or Grado would good price) and be set up for better deck latter and spend what you can on your amp.That's my take.
Cheers
Chazz

best mods i did on my NAD were the better subplatter and glass platter. I also used different bearings in the well.

the table suffers from wow which always always bugged me. The better subplatter and heavier glass platter alleviated that almost entirely.

the VTAF was nice to have for VTA but also to decouple that arm. The plinth is poor and how i know this is that i moved the arm to a different table and it really showed it's worth on a TD111 Thorens idler.

Rewiring the arm brought a higher level of detail and sweeter inner detail.

Was it worth it? I dismantled the table when I moved to a Techncis 1200. i like that table more but really wish i'd kept the NAD as a second table. My advice is if you do mod it keep it. Always have two of everything.

Thanks for all of the advice. I think that it might be a better idea to just keep any upgrades to the table to a minimum because I can see myself upgrading to a VPI in the next 10 years. I'm slow at upgrading plus I have a baby on the way.

I'm thinking this might be the route I go...

Table
-new cartridge (probably a Denon DL160)
-platter upgrade (glass or acrylic)

Phono Preamp (depending on price, and availablity)
-PS GCPH
-Bottlehead Seduction
-Jolida JD-9
-Rogue Stealth
-anything I am missing in this price range?

Amp
-down the road a bit

I had an NAD 533 with a Rega RB-250 arm and a Goldring Elektra pick-up. I upgraded the platter to Rega glass .....TREMENDOUS improvement. I then sold the NAD rig, and bought a brand new Rega P3-24/Exact 2 set-up. A year later, I splurged, and got the TT-PSU power stage. I'm now in a state of analog music heaven. My NAD was wonderful, but I'm now enjoying a whole new level of quality, warmth, harmonics, and musical presence. Good Luck, and Happy Listening !