Pro-ject vs Rega

One benefit to the Project X1 is that the arm has adjustable VTA, whereas with the Rega one would need to use shims for VTA adjustment if not using Rega's line of cartridges.  I personally would never buy an arm without adjustable VTA.  The Project arms, while nothing special, also have low effective mass, so one could use them with high compliance carts (e.g. vintage MM) so there is more room for exploring different carts on the Project.  All that said, I used to have a Project Esprit(?) and it sounded just okay, with bad isolation from itself and the environment.  Moved on to Clearaudio not long after that.

I had Pro-Ject before and now the Rega 3. I think the Rega is a much simpler, sturdier design and build. I had quality issues with the Pro-Ject. 

I am happier with the Rega sound but that's very subjective

@quintell 

Try to save for something a little better.

You'll be looking for an upgrade pretty soon if you get either of these decks.

A used Rega P8 would be awesome and you may find you never need to upgrade.

@cd318 I wouldn't start with a P8 unless the rest up the system is up to it or the OP plans to upgrade everything to match the P8. You can't hear the difference between a P3 and a P3+ unless you have the speakers, phono amp, amp to carry that signal

You bring in a variable (an included cartridge) that makes it all hard to answer. In general, I would prefer Rega over Pro-Ject for the table/arm combo.* Picking a cartridge is another question, and getting a good deal because it is included isn’t necessarily the way to good sound. Better to buy the best table, then buy the best cartridge in your budget and fit it yourself, as it isn’t hard to do.

*Yep, I just did the same thing by lumping in the table with the arm. But at this budget, that doesn’t really apply.