A turntable’s job is not just to turn the platter at the prescribed speed. It also needs to isolate the platter from vibration and other outside forces. The tone arm has to carry the properly set up cartridge and make sure it tracks optimally. None of this is inexpensive. I went from an older Thorens TD160 to a VPI Scout 2, both with a Dynavector 10X2 and it was a night and day difference. The VPI is far better isolated and the tone arm tracks much better. Both were expertly set up by my retailer. This is still a fairly entry level system but the retail cost right now is probably over $3k. Not including cables and the phono stage.
Does a turntable make a DRAMATIC difference?
I purchased some analog gear in the hopes of making my analog side (a Sutherland 20 20 phono preamplifier and a Hana ML cartridge) at least the equal of my digital side. Although it has markedly improved the sound of my records it has not equaled the SQ of my digital sources. I know my turntable ( a heavily modified Rega RP3 with two power supplies and many other internal tweaks) is the weakest link. My question is, will a new improved turntable make a MAJOR difference, or just incrementally improve the sound. Or do I have to spend major bucks to achieve what I want.