Does a turntable make a DRAMATIC difference?

You may just prefer digital.

Unfortunately, there is a dearth of customer oriented dealers in my area (Long Island, NY). I get the feeling that all they want is your money. It’s a very major metropolitan area. You would think it would be different. I get envious reading here about dealers in smaller markets that are so solicitous.

Interesting question. At the surface, yes absolutely. Audiophile tables and associated gear are a real step up ($5K level is trounced by $10k level, which is trounced by the $20K level, which… you get the idea. But..

You should be getting very good performance out of what you have. While at the budget / mid-fi side of things, it should sound better. This is where vinyl really gives digital the run for the money. I agree mostly with @newbee. Initial setup needs to be done right. I disagree about maintenance. There should be no maintenance in between cartridges.

Sounds like we agree on audio equipment. I don’t want to fiddle, just listen to music. That is what I do. I would not mod anything. I don’t touch it, except to use.

I recommend finding a competent dealer. Pay him to come out and optimize your system. I know the perfect guy if you live around Portland Oregon. I could see this being a “would you optimize”… “wow that sounds great”… “I’d like to upgrade”.

My rule of thumb is 2x to 3x cost. If I were you I would upgrade table… I used to have a low level Rega. It did not last long in my system. I now have a Linn LP12. I love the sound and the fact that I can do incremental upgrades to bring it up to a high end $30K table (mine is close). My dealer loves turntables… he loves setting them up, and knows exactly what it should sound like. If I want an upgrade he comes out (spends the afternoon chatting with me) and brings it back with upgrades, verifies it sounds perfect. Did I mention it is a good thing to have a good relationship with your dealer?

Agree.

Everyone's definition of "DRAMATIC" is going to be different.

 A "heavily modified" Rega will be left in the dust against a P8/10.

I wouldn't bother with non Rega carts, since they're optimized for its own arm. If you didn't purchase the cart yet-Apheta. 3 screws and set tracking force-you're done.

Rega is definitely a "just enjoy music on LPs" kinda table.

I know the RP3 pretty well. Don't know what your mods did, but I do know the RP3 is not even close to higher tables. Spending on the turntable and the phono both can be harder to justify versus say a cart change but it all matters...

I fear I may well fit in that latter category.

I just want to enjoy the music.

FWIW, IMHO, the parts used to assemble a very good analog system are secondary to a competent set up, and maintenance of the set up once achieved. Reliance on a retailer to achieve this is often futile unless the retailer is an acknowledged turntable expert and is willing to expend the effort on you and your system. Bottom line in this respect is you should expect to become proficient in handling all of the issues involved yourself if you really want to improve your system. Not a small task, but potentially very rewarding.

You presently have good stuff and I suspect, just suspect mind you, that if you took control of set up yourself, you might come close to achieving you results you want at minimum expense. For example VTA is critical, close enuf is not good enuf, and its best done by ear after initial set up. Likewise VTF. All of this assumes proper matching of cartridge and tone arm are had. You should also insure that your turntable speed is correct and stable. (An area where quartz TT’s, as opposed to belt driven ones, can excel and have meters of some sort to indicate that your speed is properly set. Also the ability to shift speed a tad can help you tune absolute pitch which is skewered in the recording (it happens). Belt driven tables can be a bit difficult - i.e. rubber belts (when used) are not only subject to expansion and contraction but they wear out. As I mentioned in a previous post thickness of the record you most frequency use is critical - too thick or thin of a record will change your VTA and to hear them at their best you have to adjust your VTA and/or VTF.

This just scratches the surface of the issues involved. Another might be for someone with angst problems is analog systems have more tweaks (including things like headshell wires which in my opinion are of overlooked importance judged by the fact that they are still very cheap and rarely discussed) available than you can imagine and some of them ARE important, one of which is dealing with obtaining correct isolation for your system.

To be (too, perhaps) blunt, if you can’t get involved in the proper set up/maintenance of a high end vinyl system by doing the work yourself I highly recommend that you adjust to the differences between what you have and what you might have, enjoy your vinyl undisturbed and learn, once again, to sit back and enjoy what brought you to audio in the first place, i.e. the music.

That said, I appreciate that you are/were a professional musician and you may think you have heard it all and have become a bit bored. I know I did. But I hadn’t - I spend a lot of time now listening to music with which I had little familiarity but have learned to enjoy. The up side of this is now, when I do pick out a Beethoven Symphony for example, I appreciate it so much more. The availability of chamber music and music for the solo piano for me to explore just bobble my little brain! :-)

Good luck RV.

Is your tonearm level when playing a record? Your arm has no VTA adjustment and there is no standard cartridge height. Maybe the Hana isn’t a good fit. Improper VTA can affect performance.

I just returned my Sutherland 20/20 Mk2 LPT to Music Direct because my new Holo May DAC DTE sounded much better than my analog. I have a Technics SL-1200G and Hana ML. I also have a tube preamp and I'm guessing that your taste in sound presentation is similar to my preferences.  The Sutherland in my system lacked dynamics and was harsh in the upper range of the female voice. It also lacked the microdynamics that makes voice so wonderful. I changed out preamps, but will be selling a car to fund. Now, voice is sweet and detailed and dynamics are much improved. I wonder what a better arm, turntable or cartridge would do, but I can’t afford to sell another car.

Digital is getting much better and analog can keep up, or better, but the price of admission is steep. I’m leaving things as is for now because a substantial arm/turntable improvement is costly, but I know that this is my weak link, but the music is now fluid and rich.. Phono stages make a big difference.

Vinyl is a major investment, so you have to be committed. There are some great tables out their now, fairly reasonable. The MOFI, Merrill, SOTA... To name a few.

@rvpiano ,

I think that now since you have acquired a new phono stage and cartridge, you’re rightfully realizing that the current table is the weak link. Now matter what, a great support is necessary.

no it won't make a big difference.....it "might" make a difference you might like or not, but nothing approaching a big difference.

What I mean by major bucks is spending on a better phono amplifier and cartridge plus a new turntable.

A better turntable / arm ( and well sited rack wise ) WILL make a major difference. You might want to quantify 'major bucks' but it will be costly as compared to an RP3.