Just got back in the vinyl community

As a Pre-Planner for anything you may choose to bring into the system at a later date.

I suggest that you spend some time learning what might be a good structure to mount your TT on.

There are endless options at varied costs. My experience is that very attractive results are able to be created at not too much monies, using Items that can sell on quite easy, if investigations are showing up support devices that are being superseded.

Getting the Support Structure to a place where it is undoubtedly perceived as being Optimised, can have a impact that will create the impression a New TT>TA is in use, when recollected for the sonic produced on a previous method of support. 

Such an Optimised Structure should prove its value to any future endeavours.

Congrats. I agree that vinyl can be rewarding, but it tends to bring out the OCD in some.  I think you were wise to go with a Rega table/cart combo because you can relax in knowing that it’s set up to Rega spec and you don’t have to fiddle with alignment, vta and all that stuff. I would wait a few months and if you still enjoy records, I would invest in a record cleaning machine. You don’t need anything fancy right now. I think Record Doctor makes one for about $200 that looks good. After a year or so, if you’re itchy, I would consider moving up 2 notches in the Rega line. Your dealer might even take yours back in trade. Keep the box. Have fun. 

I can only imagine how frustrating and discouraging it is for the label owners who invest a lot of time in tracking down original analogue master tapes to then see over and over again the false narrative that "no one presses records from original master tapes they use a digital master." And to then to hear "they don’t know how to press a record so you get horrible sound just horrible."

Those kinds of statements come from people who think in terms of the LP’s sold at "Barnes and Nobles or Walmart or Target" (that's like going to McDonalds in search of good food). They are apparently completely unaware of record labels such as Analogue Productions, Speakers Corner, Intervention Records, Vinyl Me Please (VMP), Acony, Light In The Attic, New West, Jackpot Records, Blue Note Records, Impex Records, Craft Recordings, Sundazed Records, Third Man Records, and numerous others.

They are also seemingly unaware of record pressing plants such as Quality Record Pressing (QRP)---they are doing the Hendrix and Steely Dan reissues, Pallas (in Germany), and Record Technology Inc. (RTI). VMP is right now building a new LP pressing plant.

Just as you have to know where to look to find superior hi-fi gear, you have to know where to look to find the good new LP’s, whether reissues of older albums or all analogue pressings of new releases. There is so much being released it is impossible to keep up with! I’m still out there searching for original pressings from the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, while also watching closely for the superior reissues of old albums. Some reissues actually sound better than originals, some don’t. If you don’t think the Analogue Productions reissue of The Beach Boys Surfer Girl album sounds better than the original Capitol Records pressing, you need a better hi-fi!

Welcome back to spinning LPs. I think @bkeske ’s suggestion to build your collection is a good one as is @bdp24 ’s observation that all LPs are not created equal. In my experience, the more different records you play, the more you hear the strengths and weaknesses of the system.

Also, one of the critical areas that costs very little is placement in the room to take advantage of your room’s acoustics. I’d start simply by buying Jim Smith’s book, which is very down to earth, doesn’t involve taking fancy measurements and covers the basics. A lot of people get caught on the hamster wheel of upgrades in search of some elusive (and often ill-defined) goal of "better" sound without: a) maximizing the potential of what they own simply by improvements in set up and positioning and b) not knowing what a good system is capable of. The latter is something that is probably best accomplished by going to other audiophile’s homes (normally, people are generous in inviting listeners). Dealers can be good, bad or indifferent-- kind of hard to say, depending on where you are and how much you are willing to travel. Obviously, there’s nothing like in system trial but leave that to the side for the moment- you need to spend more time listening to what a great vinyl set up is capable of, all other things being equal (which they never are).

There is a compulsion to upgrade in this pursuit that is very hard to resist- who doesn’t like nice shiny objects- but resist! Make your changes after you get more seat time, after you have optimized what you have and after you have a better idea of what your system is lacking or where it needs to be improved.

Good luck and remember, this is supposed to "fun" and entertaining, enjoyable and a refuge from the rough and tumble of the outside world, not a race to get to the top of the mountain. Because all you will see is another, higher peak! :)

Every record, on vinyl or not, has different levels of quality in recording / mixing / mastering. So to expect the same quality sound wise in any medium all the time is a fallacy.