Which TT the Pro-Ject RM-5 SE or Rega P3-24?

Agree that Rega actually does not offer much upgrades compared to most other turntable manufacturers, their business model is quite the opposite. As far as analog vs. digital, this has been much debated in other threads. Not to get into it here, but to grossly summarize, the musical distortion in analog, (not speaking of surface noise), is almost entirely at low frequencies, and therefore much less musically objectionable than the distortions of digital, which occur at higher frequencies. For the surface noise, get a record cleaning machine (I got the inexpensive Nitty Gritty from Audio Advisor) and a good set of fluids such as AIVS, and you can clean up most used vinyl very well. I would say I have at least a 90% success rate with this. You can also try a hand-washing method first for the really grungy stuff. For instance, I just bought the Bernstein Carmen with Marilyn Horne, considered the definitive both for performance and sonics (DGG tulip), which usually goes for big bucks on ebay or here, for only six bucks at a local store. It had a sheet of packing foam in it that had disintegrated all over the three LP's. I hand-washed them first, then put them on the cleaning machine, with what would have been perfect success, except for I dropped one of them when my hands were still soapy and wet, scratching one of the sides myself, oops. It sounds as great as advertised otherwise. Yes, sometimes you just get a bad pressing (I have interestingly had a few problems with the famous RCA "shaded dogs"), but if you invest a little in a good cleaning system, you can clean up most anything.

Well, as far as sources go, everything I have bought on audiogon has arrived in fantastic condition, though admittedly I haven't bought much here yet. I have apparently had much better luck on ebay than many posters here seem to have, I have almost never had any problems shopping there. There is also a chain in my area called Half Price Books that sells used records. There are several branches near me, and I look for vinyl at a few of them regularly. Just today, I picked up a near-mint condition copy of the opera Peter Grimes on the London label, conducted by Britten himself with Peter Pears singing Peter for only 8 bucks. I have seen it go on ebay for 10 times that. Alot of people seem to have good luck in thrift stores and estate sales as well, but I have yet to explore these options, I have only been collecting vinyl again in the last several months. I have also been fortunate to have a few friends who gave me their collections of vinyl that they were not using anymore. There are many people doing this now that they can transfer their vinyl recordings to their computers.

Sometimes you will have a click or pop, that is true. Sometimes these can go away with a good cleaning regimen, sometimes not (I personally am a little dubious of steam cleaning, by the way, though I know there are some who swear by it). In my view, that sort of noise is just on the surface. It is not embedded in the music itself. I will put up with a little bit of that to get the larger dynamic range, the more accurate instrumental timbres, and the less musically objectionable distortions of analog over digital, to name just a few benefits. Also, a good arm and cartridge will sometimes track right through a scratch without noise. I have found the fingernail test to be pretty reliable when shopping in the used stores (if you can feel it, you'll hear it, but if you can't, there's a very good chance you won't). Much vinyl out there is not as damaged as it sometimes appears, in my experience.