Upgrade Rega P3 or go higher end?


I have a Rega P3 purchased new from Lyric HiFi about 10 years ago, with a Blue Point Special Evo3 cartridge. Works fine and has no mods. But I'd like to improve my vinyl experience. I could easily add $5-6-700 worth of mods to the P3, but is it worth it? I really like the VPI Scout 1.1, in fact Lyric the salesman told me to buy the VPI instead of the Rega. Theres's a couple others at this price point that might be better than a modded Rega as well I think.
So is the Rega worth the upgrades and will it ever approach the sonics of the VPI (or that class of TT), or is it better to trade in the Rega and go for the more costly table to begin with? Thanks.
jaybe

Showing 1 response by mdcomdial

Years ago I had a blue point special on my Rega planer 3. About 9 years ago I upgraded the cartridge to the Sumiko Blackbird and added a Graham Slee phono preamp. I still use that combination and really enjoy it. I am always tempted by newer turntables and one day I'll upgrade, but to get significantly better sound, not just different (a lateral move, not better), I'll have to spend quite a lot more. During this period I had changed my system from an all Linn system to a Classe / B&W system and the combination of the Rega, Sumiko Blackbird and Graham Slee sounds even better on the new system. In the last year I upgraded the sub platter. It makes a difference, but no where near upgrading to the Blackbird. There is a huge difference between the Blackbird and your cartridge.
By the way, I recently upgraded the interconnects going from the Graham Slee phono preamp to the Classe with Nordost Heimdall and it is a noticeable upgrade, more so than the sub platter upgrade was in my system. The nice thing is that you can upgrade as you can afford to.

System synergy is always important, so it's hard to make a recommendation that works for everyone. This combination worked for 2 of my systems.

Good luck