turntable recommendations

I went through a very similar situation last year. I had a P5 and got to talking with someone who took over the store of the guy who sold me the P5. Starting from a conversation of rewiring the arm from the P5 (RB 700) to upgrading the arm (which I did to the RB880) to finally giving in to the P8 which includes the RB 880. I can tell you this: The arm made WAY more of a difference than the table, even though the P8 looks cool and has a better platter, etc. I don't necessarily regret paying much more for a much lesser improvement, but I think if you want to be as value conscious as possible, spend that extra $1500 on a good phono stage - you didn't mention what you are using. I did that after the turntable upgrade and was once again blown away with the improvement. I think if the table is spinning at the right speed (you have a PSU)  and is properly isolated, the table is less important than the arm or the cartridge/phono stage, and is typically much more expensive.

That's what we're all after - NOTICEABLE improvement. Beware of the law of diminishing returns, and have an end goal in mind, or at least an intermediary goal in mind.

@stantheman2 - you never mentioned your phono stage. Did you compare the P8 with its fantastic arm to the Feickert? It would have saved you a few bucks. Glad to hear you are hearing an improvement over the RP6 which is not surprising.

@stantheman - could you have put a Rega RB 880 arm on the Dr. Feikert? I am very surprised that you didn't think the P8 with that arm didn't sound better than the RP6 with the RB330. That may have been something to think about. Sounds like a nice phono stage. 

Yeah Rega doesn't offer big discounts, I guess because they don't have to with their market share.

Enjoy! Obviously the  best thing would have been to compare both of them in your home with the same cartridge, which sometimes is hard to do. As long as you have a reputable brand (I've heard a little about Feikert and it is carried by the most knowledgable dealer in my area) you can always trade it in and get a good % of what you paid back, especially if you go back to the same dealer. That's why a lot of them offer in home demos or money back guarantees.

I think Rega offers great value, especially with their arms, but I would always keep an open mind. I've heard good things about SME (up there in price) and JE Michell tables.