Turntable Upgrade Suggestions

I prefer the Michell Orbe SE with SME arm over the classic 3. Open, airy, and still has weight to the music. I would add it to your list in $6K table/arm systems. Used will put you in a higher range. I would get a used SME V over a new SME 309 for around the same money. Good luck.

Check out the Well Tempered Amadeus and the Townshend Rock 7. Both are great tables. See Robert Greene's reviews in The Absolute Sound. I think he captures the flavor of these tables well (though it should be noted that he would have gotten even better performance from the Rock with an arm better than the Rega 301).

Firstcut: I've been in the same boat for several years now. I've got a Scout (with the 300rpm motor upgrade) and have been enjoying it for at least a half dozen years at this point but always with an eye toward replacing it with something markedly better. Since it is an "entry level" table I thought this would be fairly easy with up to $5K to spend. But things have proven more difficult than I anticipated. The first challenge is doing apples to apples comparisons of competing tables. Unlike other components, it is very difficult to compare different table/arm combinations with the same cartridge in the same system/room. Really, an in home demo is the only way to do this and this would require having a duplicate cartridge on hand to plug into the "contender". But this even raises the issue of whether the duplicate cartridge is the best match (weight, compliance, etc) for the arm of the contender since a mismatch would skew the results of the comparison. Sure, I can go listen to other tables at shows and dealers but what is this really telling me about how they compare with my Scout? Or how they will perform in my system? I also think (admittedly without having done the comparative analysis) that the Scout is quite an overachiever and may be pretty tough to beat at even double the price. As such the Scout can also warrant a fairly serious cartridge which can push the sound envelope even further (though I run a "lowly" ATOC9MLII and think this matches up very synergistically with the JMW9 arm and provides remarkably good sound for the money). I'll also add that I don't really understand all the fuss about the VPI Classic. In terms of design it would seem to be a step backward from the Scout in some respects (for example the motor is housed within the plinth rather than isolating these vibrations by stationing outboard like the Scout). Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to hear the Classic and so really have no evidence one way or the other. OK, I'm rambling at this point but I'll just conclude by suggesting that you consider carefully your cartridge and phonostage selection as well as making sure you get the alignment just right and you may find that your "lowly" Scout is pretty tough to beat at better than double the money.

@Dodgealum, I posted a thread very similar to your words above wondering how we really can compare analog setups (tables and cartridges) when it is hard enough to locally hear what we think is in our budget. I have an Xpression III with speed box I and hope to upgrade to a VPI Traveler at the end of this month. I cannot even find a Traveler to listen to in the Seattle area. I also wanted to hear an Amadeus to see what all the hype is about but I cannot find one of those local either.

The first part of my analog source upgrade is done going from a Pro-ject phono tube box II to a Jasmine 2.0LP mkII. I hope to be selling all of my Pro-ject gear locally if the Traveler works out (will be demoing the Traveler in house).