Does a turntable make a DRAMATIC difference?

Fi d yourself a used lp12 if you want to kill the Rega for not much money  find an itok Valhalla  or better huge improvement  over the Rega. 

I have a decent digital side. My turntable more than edges out my digital but not always. 

Oddly some recordings sound nearly identical. Rare is it when the digital album beats the analog one.

But I have to agree with set up being key. My analog side is Technics 1200G>AT33PTGII>Hagerman Trumpet MC>Don Sachs Model 2.  preamp. Certainly not high end but it was when I used a thicker mat to zero in on VTA that I got things dialed in. Careful set up is key.

Digital is like tracing a picture. Analog is like drawing from one.

The tracing is accurate but a bit lifeless. Analog is less accurate, yes, but full of life.

A stylus reacts to a sharp noise reproduction in the recording with almost a violent shock within the groove. How is that ever going to be accurate! But it’s an event that creates magic. And it’s been honed through many years of improvement. It’s just a more emotional experience. The sins of digital are subtractive. The sins of analog are additive. To me, one is really not better than the other...pick your poison.

The turntable itself won't make a much difference at all but a different cartridge will mostly likely do so. The turntable's job is to spin a record at a certain speed and all good ones will do that but there are many variations with cartridges.

I have on many occasions, over many years, compared the Vinyl LP Source to the CD Source.

These Sources have been experienced on my own system and on many other Set Ups.

I was not convinced of CD, being a Source I could settle with, throughout the bulk of the period I sought out these comparison experiences    

Things Change, it was recently 2017/2018 that I have introduced a CD Source into my own system as a Front End that is as satisfactory to use as the Vinyl Source.

I have been Wed to seeking out Musical Encounters for more than 40 Years, and Wed to Vinyl as one of the methods for close to 40 years. I was very late in the availability of CD to discover a method that produced an attractive to myself replay.   

Neither are equal, and neither is IMO, relating to the choices I have made, better that the other.

I have come to a place where each Source has their attractors, and each are totally capable of creating a listening experience that is wanted to be encountered again.

For myself, I am not sure if there is anything else between these two sources needing to be worked on to separate them.

I am aware when attempting to get a Vinyl Set Up to Jump in improved performance, that is noticeable, there is usually a substantial outlay required to acquire the ancillaries.

The CD Source does not, IME of using it, seem to incur comparative costs, to show an improvement. 

I could be a little wrong in my assessment of monies required, as I have not been seeking change in any substantial way for nearly five years.