Vip Traveler verses Rega p6 - Photo Finish?

I heard both at a store. I'd pick the VPI Traveler. It seemed better built, and sounded better to my ears. The Rega, in fact the Rega sound, always comes across as thin and sometimes bright to me. You might be able to give the pratt nod to the Rega but the VPI overall sounded more complete.

A lot of people note that the factory mat on the Regas are very thin sounding. Getting my RP6 setup this weekend and it will have a leather (suede on both side) mat to start with.

I just had the same choices and picked up a Clearaudio Concept. I prefer the build quality compared to the others- the VPI would have been my second choice.