update recommendations

kind of a snooty reply there, stringreen. my perception of the sound i'm getting now, in relation to the scoutmaster's sound, is an (ephemeral) "bubble" heh?
i've never heard the vpi scoutmaster, so there is a chance that it may play at your "big-boy" level. i do know that when i made a decision on what turntable i was going to buy (within my budget), it came down to the upgraded rega 25 and a vpi scout. i researched other's opinions and the impression i got was that the scout had a fuller sound, but the rega had the amorphous PRAT thing over it. a couple musicians said they preferred rega liveliness over vpi fullness...i went with the rega. when i added the vh audio power cord, i got a full, lively sound that i thought i'd never get at my level of monetary aural investment.
that said, i may hear the vpi scoutmaster one day and find that u are right, but right now i'm a VERY happy camper.

Again - sorry - I certainly didn't mean anything by my post, except to say that the Rega is a good value for the money, but not like the higher priced spread. I am a professional violinist - I am sure you have heard me play. I chose the VPI because it sounds more like music than some others. I am not talking about the fullness, the alacrity, the sweetness...I'm talking about the ability of the sound to portray the facsimile of the real thing. That "real thing" I'm talking about is not an absolute. My violin sounds different in Carnegie Hall in New York, than Boston Symphony Hall in Boston, than Alice Tulley Hall, etc. I know that my voice sounds different in the different rooms of my house, however, in all cases, everyone knows that it is I who is talking. I really don't know what it is, but sometimes I am really coaxed in thinking that there is a real instrument or singer working in my living room. I speculate its the absence of resonances, or very few if any poorly resolved reflections, .. there should be an ease to the music - I don't know what it is scientifically, but I certainly know it when I hear it.

ok stringreen...fair enuf. like i said in my first post, i'm pretty much a "rockhead" and the rega/heed orbit/vh audio power cord combo RAWKS.
and it's all good...your post has even made me curious about the superscoutmaster ;)