How much to spend on what component


Guys,

I'm currently using a Rega P2/RB250 with Mitchell balance weights/Ortofon 520 mk2. I've had this for about 18 years now and feel the time is right to upgrade. I don't want to fiddle about upgrading one part at a time or buy from some on line retailer. I listen to a lot of different music, CSN&Y, Crusaders, Led Zep, Jesse Colin Young etc so I want my set up to be very transparent and detailed but I'm not too bothered about a lot of base.

I Live in Spain but will be buying from a retailer in Berlin, Germany. After talking at length with him I have some ideas of what I might like but I have hit the age old problem. The more research I do the more confused I become.

My initial idea is a Nottingham Analogue Studios Interspace Junior with a Nottingham arm and Micro Benz Gold cartridge.

However he has some nice tone arms and I'm particularly taken by the look of the Morch UP-4.
Having said that my budget is $2,800, (or 2,500€, £1850)I'm completely open to advice so, a couple of questions..........

Generally speaking, is there some sort of rule that says you should spend a given proportion of the budget on each component ie: 50% Turntable 30% arm 20% cartridge? (I've just made these up to illustrate my point)

What do people think of the Nottingham choice?

I really like the Morch so is it a decent arm and is it worth fitting into a set up?

Being in Europe, my dealer Turntable choices are limited to Rega, Clearaudio, Nottingham, Project and Roksan.

Thanks, any advice would be appreciated
rob-in-spain
Since you have the Rega for 18 years and enjoyed it,why not go for another Rega? I think the rule you came up with is just about right!
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I'd say spend as much on the turntable and tonearm as you possibly can (assuming that price = value, which is not always the case!) and worry slightly less about the cart...

As an aside, years ago Linn proposed total system "spend" in the form of a symbolic pyramid with the turntable appearing as the base/foundation of the pyramid. The width of each level represented the scale of the "spend" as thus -

......L/S
...Amplifier
..Phono stage
Turntable/arm/cart

This could be further broken down into -

....Cart
.Tone-arm
Turn---table

The T/T being the most "fundamental" element...

Later someone came up with the "Barnett Formula" (context of "Barnett" being slang for a seriously large head of hair). This was an inverted pyramid with the loudspeakers emphasized at the top.

IMO both are correct to a large extent because you should also buy the best loudspeakers & amplification you can afford in order to do the source justice ;^)

Hell, just sell the Ferrari and buy a mega-system! ;^) :D