I have no experience with Clearaudio, but I purchased a Rega P7, 7 years ago, and have never regretted it. I assume the RP series is even better. But my advice is that I found a good and equal phonostage makes a big difference. I started with an inexpensive Bellari, then upgraded to a Whest, and I'm about to upgrade again to a ... still looking. Rega requires zero effort to set up and start using, I am an avid listener, but I'm not big on fiddling with technology to the start line. Hope this helps.
