Op as you go through your journey I hope you can audition manufacturers and their various offerings.
Last year I upgraded my turntable and was considering a few options and specifically wanted to hear the impact on the tables versus the cartridge or phono stage.
My goal was to bring the quality of my analog source closer in line to my digital source as I find digital music to be more convenient and with my RP1 the sound was less dynamic and musical detail was inferior within my system.
I was looking for an impactful improvement over my RP1 and my budget cap was $5k but I wanted to spend less. I was considering an LP 12 and wanted to listen to the Rega P3, P6 and P8.
I was surprised on the difference the tables. We first listened to a P1 with some music I brought. I sounded 'fine' and I expressed my desire to increase the dynamics of the music and specifically the clarity of the mids and highs.
We listened to the P3 and the change was very evident. The same needle. We then listened to the P6 and the change was again very evident. There was another step change improvement on the dynamics, the 'quietness' of the music and the highs were much more clear and defined.
I ultimately decided to go with the P8 and the Ania cartridge based on the price and the improvements across the board. And I specifically didn't listen to the P10 or the LP12 because I enjoyed what I heard and was getting close to the budget cap. If I planned on spending $2k the upgrade of the plinth, separate motor and tone arm in the P6 improved the sound using a relatively inexpensive MM cartridge. Upgrading the cartridge in the future is possible due to the quality of the plinth, motor and tone arm.
Other manufacturers than Rega have an upgrade path and I would consider future options if you believe you will want to upgrade.
