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

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.

Stickman: Very helpful. Can you tell me what you heard when moving from the Scout up to the Aries 3? I've been looking at them for sale here and am quite interested in that particular table. Did you move your cartridge from one table to the other so that what you heard was pretty much just that upgrade?
I'm thinking I'm going to be putting the table either on a wall shelf I'll mount, or on a concrete mantle to my fireplace. I know that's relatively inert though perhaps it has some high frequency ringing.
Best,

In my opinion, the Aries 3 bests' the Scout in every way. Actually, I do not have the Aries in my rig quite yet; I just ordered it last week. My in-store listening eaisly convinced me that the Aries is much better overall. Also, I will have a Dynavector 507 MKII arm relacing the stock VPI unipivot. The combo between the Aries and the 507 is special. This combo gives a bigger, more defined, more detailed sound along with more layers, and provides an extra dose of thump and grunt over the Scout. The Aries with the 507 is several steps above the Scout in transparency and refinement.

Having said that, just about any decent table will kick the crap out of cd. The Rega's are all very good; but I liked the Aries 3 the best. I think the VPI tables will give you a 'bigger' sound and are more musical overall than the Regas, but you cannot go wrong with the Reags either; they offer a lot 'bang for the buck'!

Buying a used table/arm and a new cartridge with your budget you can certainly do way better than a P3/24, and the diminishing returns syndrome is overrated IMHO as long as the rest of your system is up to the task. You should be looking at table/arms with list prices of about $3-4k and cartridges in the $1k range. You can do even better, although a bit risky, by buying the cartridge used as well. There is a lot of very good competition at that price, with varied appeal sound wise, ergonomically and aesthetically. I would make a short list of what appeals to you at that price and don['t worry about whether a P3, or for that matter, a Technics 1200, will do just as well. It won't.

"What Hi Fi? Sound and Vision" magazine out of UK offers a monthly feature where they rank 1,400 products by one to five stars. They cover turntables and will give you good insights into your house sound by brand and model. They awarded Clearaudio and Rega their products of the year for 2008. England presently leads the vinyl revival as we know it and you will find nice information around a wide variety of English and German manufacturers.

www.stereomojo.com just did a nice review of the Music Hall 9.1; and the new Rega 3 has been getting universely great press: the Rega 3-24 is a wonderful entry point to get your feet wet. It will deliver years of trouble-free wear. You certainly can play in $1k range and get great performance per dollar. Gene Rubin Audio is an excellent retailer around all things English.

Dynavector and Denon make great entry level cartridges. I especially like the modified Denon 103 by Zu Audio--handles a wide variety of genres well.