"House sound" of VPI, Clearaudio, Rega, MH, etc.

I just spent months comparing a VPI 19 to a Sota Jewel. Swapped cartridges but not arms. I would say the Sota is "warmer" sounding with a bigger soundstage. The VPI is very light and airy with possible a little more high frequecy detail. Just my opinion. I've owned everything from Transcriptor to Thorens to Marantz to Dual and more. Both VPI and Sota win. Sota is my favorite.

Thanks for the comments Elevick and Jaybo. I was hoping a few more forumites could chime in about the other brands. Clearaudio vs VPI? VPI vs Rega?
Thanks in advance.

Mgrif104,

As Piediper mentioned above, the amount you want to spend is a big part of the decision. For my money, and the solid "entry" level, it is hard to beat a VPI Scout. I have one with a Dynavector 20XL and my Hovland HP 100 and it sounds great! The Scout is fast, dynamic, and keeps your toes tapping! It is not the last word in detail or 'grunt' (bass and mid-bass punch)but there are several things you can do to improve these items. First, use a nice maple block or a Gingko as the base; both will improve the Scout. Second, get a better cartridge. The 20XL is very good at it's price point (about $600) but there are many other options that will improve the detail and thump.

Or, do like I did recently and upgrade to a VPI Aries 3...

In any case, you will not regret your move back into vinyl. Vinyl just sounds better than digital. I've heard a Scout completely slay a $6,000 "high end" cd player... In every category, vinly is just more musical and enjoyable..

Piedpiper: I'm targeting up to roughly $3k for table and cartridge and I prefer used. I might bump that up if I fall in love w/ a MC pickup because then I'd need an outboard phono preamp. And, who knows - I haven't heard the phone stage of my unit yet. It may be substandard (Parasound P23). I certainly don't mind coming in below that amount either. I've already heard the Rega P3-24 and think I could live with it if moving upstream is diminishing returns.
I was actually hoping there's a similarity in sound across all offerings w/in a manufacturers line. Does the Rega P7 and P5 (both of which I'm considering but which I can't easily audition) sound like the P3-24? Similarly, does the Clearaudio performance table (unable to audition) sound like an improved version of the Marantz table (which I have heard) which they make? I haven't been able to hear a VPI deck of any flavor and would very much like to. How do VPIs sound relative to Rega/Clearaudio, etc. I thought perhaps there might be a house sound to a line which could be generalized here.
It's looking like if I venture beyond the Marantz or lower end Rega tables, I may be doing so based solely on opinions expressed here as I doubt I'll be able to audition then. The only table I've been able to audition upstream is the SME20. Loved it but way out of budget.
Thanks for your help.