P2 or P3

I guess the main difference in that configuration would be the difference in the Rega tonearms. There was a fairly detailed review and comparison of the Rega line of tonearms in last months Hifi+ (February issue). This month there's a review of the different Heavyweights. In the Hifi+ review the RB300 came out better than the RB250 against all rumors. I personally have the RB300 with Heavyweight. My cartridge is a Denon DL103. At least using the Denon cartridge the heavyweight was really necessary.
If you are looking for a cartridge the Denon DL103 is an excellent choice (and available for only around $120 minus sales tax + shipping at www.phonophono.de in Germany). I haven't heard the Shure or the Goldring yet but Denon wa certainly a lot better than my old Rega Elys. In Germany the Denon used to be really popular for use on the Planar 3. The only problem with the DL 103 is that it's a low output MC. There is also the DL 160 High output but that one is not as much a classic as the DL103. You could also look for a modified DL103D importet from Japan (there's a few discussion posts in this forum).

Anyway, have fun getting back into vinyl...

Rene

There are reasons that a modded RB250 can better a modded RB300.Firstly the RB250 still has bearings on both sides unlike the RB300 where they have removed 1 bearing to put a seemingly improved Bias adjuster in.The RB250 stem is brass as opposed to steel in the RB250.The spring mechanism in the RB300 Bias adjuster resonates noticeably.You apparantly disengage it by sliding it all the way up to 3 or remove it altogether.Once you have added a decent(Origin) counterweight to the RB250 instead of the stock plastic one it becomes a great arm.The Shure has better bandwidth and should be the best cartridge to use.A rewire(after counterweight mod) will make a modded RB250 challenge Rega's best arms i.e the RB900-1000 I did much enquiry on this.Get the Planar 2 with the glass platter,you can get an acrylic platter upgrade for it.Look up further mods here and on Vonyl Asylum.stefanl

Sorry, I meant to say the RB250 has a brass stem and a plastic stub,whereas the RB300 has a steel stem and steel stub in their stock form.You get rid of the plastic stub on the RB250,replacing it with the metal counterweight of your choice,there are many available,the Origin one from England has generally been regarded as the best,due to the way it is decoupled-do some research on this.Vinyl Asylum has lots of info.stefanl