Upgrade from Rega P3-24 .....

Like some other people in thi thread I would urge you to upgrade to a better phono pre amp. YOu have a really nice system now but buying a better TT or cart without upgrading your phono pre would be pointless IMHO.

If I were you I would spend close to all of you budget on a phono pre amp.

In this hobby especially vinyl playback its so easy to get captivated by other turntables that you do not own but may like. It's easy as turntables demonstrate visual character that other components often do not. Turntables see among the widest range in pricing from new tables costs $100 or so up to models into the high five figure and even six figure range. Many of these are visual and engineering delights.

I have found my almost always wanting for ever new models has been strong at times. It's so easy to spend one's money in your own mind. But thankfully for me I stand back and let the urge pass. Not always as I have bought a few (5 since 2003, none too expensive though) turntables since getting back into vinyl over 10 years ago. But today I've come to settle with my Rega P3-24. Its sitting on a doubled up granite slab system with both spikes and cut down hockey pucks adding much damping from floor made vibrations. This has improved the solidity of sound the Rega gives. I have a Denon DL-110 on it all running through my Cambridge Audio 640p phono preamp. The RB301 is a great all around tone arm that gives the user full confidence. However I made a change as I am amassing more mono LP's and wanted to be able to run a hot swap of cartridges between my stereo and mono cartridges. I chose to go with the Jelco SA-370H as it's a nice arm and has the detachable head shell. Mounted with full Rega specs as a drop in to the P3-24 and ta da it's up and running. The Jelco is an impressive arm and I have not yet tried the oil damping. Maybe I will maybe wont. But it's a superb arm and the fidelity I get from it with my DL-110 is truly impressive to my ears. I'm all too happy with my P3-24 and have little urge to switch it out. Oh one day I likely will but really my set up here really pleases me. Now that I can easily hot swap cartridges I may invest in other cartridge choices to enjoy each cartridges flavour of sound.

I may also now switch from coveting another turntable and save to buy a better phono preamp, not that the 640p is not a stellar unit give its price.

Okay ..........So it seems as if an upgraded phono stage is the "best first step" right now. Would a $500 budget allow for an audibly significant improvement ? Which ones should I be considering ? Rega Fono, Bottlehead Seduction, Sim 110 ?.... I'm lost here. Help me out.

$500, it's hard to say. You have to size up such to your current phon section. That said for my future phono preamp upgrade I'm going to look into the $400-$600 range. I figure one would have to go at this range to get much a difference from my current Cambridge Audio 640p.

Well, I love my Bottlehead Seduction. It's better than the built in Rogue phono, Cambridge 640P, Nova phonomena II and the Jasmine phono that I've tried, the Bottlehead easily beat them all. It's only downfall is it's not terribly flexible. Mine has 40db of gain with the upgraded power supply which has been fine for the carts I've used with it, which include the Ortofon Blue, AT150MLX, denon dl160, dynavector 10x5 and the clearaudio virtuoso. I did just finally pick up a SUT so I could try out a low MC though.