Phono Stage or TT upgrade


Ok gang, here is the current quandry. To upgrade my phono stage or my TT. System as of now

Dynavector D 17 MK II Karat ( love it and it will stay )
Rega P 25 w/ RB 600, VTA adjust and no other mods.
Dynavector P 75 MK I phono pre

Ayre K1Xe Line Stage
Ayre V3 w/ Rev 3 boards and Ayre Conditioner
Dunlavy SC-IV improved

I just sold a Tom Evans Groove + SRX and wish I had never tried it in the system. It was more explosive, coherent, deeper, faster and open than the Dynavector P-75.
I have a chance to do a change to a VPI Classic with the HXR center weight and keep using my D-17 MK II and P 75 MK I. Local sale and known seller. I love the Scout and Scoutmaster but have not spent any time with the classic.
The other option would be to upgrade the phono stage. I am not afraid of tubes but QUIET is an absolute necessity. I am just over chasing down a noisy 12AX7 or 6SN7 every few months.
Overall I am looking for more slam ,speed and dynamics than the current combo. My budget is in the $1500-2000 range and fairly strict at the upper limit.

Any ideas?
128x128meadowman
Meadowman, if it were me I would take a serious look at the Pass XOno here on Agon from Reno HiFi. Should have plenty of gain and dynamics, is in your $2k limit and they are oferring an in home trial / return... Or grab another Groove model... IMHO either should well out perform the Simaudio... I know a lot of people like their stuff and the build quality & company are great, but their gear always sounds like a stereo to me ~ I never "get pulled into the music" with their stuff... anyway, that's just my $0.002 and my ears... Happy listening
Clio99: I have tried the P5Xe in my rig with the D 17 MK II and found it very noisy. As in almost a tube rush like sound that was audible from the listening position even over moderate volume playback. Ayre advised this was "normal" with super low output carts like the Dynavector.

I am on the trail of a matching Simaudio Moon lp5.3 plus power supply. Good hunting!
Stanwal: The groove was part of a full Tom Evans rig that I bought to help out a pal's widow. I never meant to listen to it, just to move the gear and recoup some money for her.

Learsfool: The P 25 (IMHO) out classes the P3-24 any day and I personally like the 25s PRAT better than the P 5. The P 25 was the 25th anniversary Rega and was far beyond the P3 of it's day.

Cod: Great point. Since the current TT/Cart was able to give enough to the Groove to show the differences I like, maybe phono stage is best.
I'm in similar boat with my system ~ Shelter 501mkII / Nottingham Space 294 / Shelter Phono pre / arc DSi200 / ProAc D25's... From my experience (and your comments on the Groove) your current weak link is the phono section ~ you have proven your current TT/cart is capable of giving you what you want. And as your Ayre gear is resolving the limitations of the very good, but simply outclassed, Dynavector phono pre I recommend starting with phono pre upgrade and then next you can consider tweaking your Rega or changing tables... As for which phono pre; if not another Groove there are a couple Ayre P-5xe's listed on Agon in your range right now... Seems like a perfect match... For myself, I am planning an upgrade to an arc PH7 if the year end bonus comes through and I can find one on Agon at the same time... Happy listening
"Slam, speed and dynamics" - For a turntable I would recommend the Well Tempered Amadeus but that is going to be above your stated $2000 limit, even used. If you go the phono stage route and want the phono stage to be DEAD QUIET as well as helping you obtain more slam, speed and dynamics, I recommend a used Nagra BPS.
If you like your Rega table, consider moving up the line, to either the P3-24, or the P5.
It is not clear to me why you sold the Groove if it was that much better; why not sell the P 75 and get another one. I have found it best to stay with what I know I like and that for you sounds like the Groove. I am a dealer for both VPI and Dynavector and have had both the Classic and the P 75 so I am familiar with them. They are both good units which can be bettered for more money but are great values. The Classic and Scoutmaster do not sound alike but are of comparable quality, it would be a personal choice which you should get. A friend just sold his loaded Classic and bought a P 25; he likes the sound of the VPI better but decided to downsize his system. Another friend uses a Scout with Superplatter with his Dunlavy or Duntech speakers[I forget which]. In short, you will improve the sound by either switch, which one you will like more is a question no one else can answer.