Turntable upgrade

I would look at VPI, Clear Audio, Linn, LP12, and the Well Tempered Amadeus just got a great review.

The P6/Ania is quite capable, the weak link is the Fono. If you are set on Rega, the Aria is quite good, and you could have a look at others, Sutherland, Darlington, etc.

After that, the next weak link Is the bonded elliptical stylus on the Ania, so an upgrade to the Ania Pro, or higher.

IMHO, there is a lot to do before dealing with the turntable itself, YMMV, and good luck.

I agree the bottleneck is the Fono.

Get the best phono stage in your budget.

The P6 is a nice table and a good phono stage will make it rock!

I didn't know the Ania was bonded!  

An elliptical is good but I would try a Micro Line or something similar.

I would definitely upgrade the phonostage first. Even with an upgraded tt your current phono is still possibly your bottleneck. Good luck. 

I recently traded my VPI Scout table I’d had for years for a Pure Fidelity Harmony turntable with the Savant arm and Stratos cartridge. It’s paired with a Parasound JC3+ phono amp. I can’t believe the difference — the clarity, bottom end, and definition that this table provides is amazing. I can’t recommend the Pure Fidelity enough — check them out! 

Personally iwould keep.the table and upgrade the phono stage and amplifier the parasound is decent but you will be amazed by moving to a higher class of amplifier

Dave and Troy

AUDIO intellect NJ

Rega dealer/ former Parasound dealer

I just purchased the P8 w/ Apheta 3 cart. into PS Audio $2500 phono pre. Unbelievable "you are there" sound and quiet as a mouse. Better sounding than my 25K digital setup....My record collection has come alive. I haven't had late night listening sessions like this in years. Thanks Rich @ Signature Sound in Liverpool NY. ps....I had the Parasound phono pre but sent it back. Not impressed.

I was somewhat in the same boat last year. Got the itch for a new TT.

I have a MoFi Ultra deck with the MoFi phono preamp.  I felt I could make the next major jump in many areas if I picked up a newer, more expensive TT. What I ended up doing was adding a Hana ML cartridge and a Parasound JC3 Jr. I am very pleased with the results. Everything is in such tight focus, more open and smooth sounding too. Now I feel I'd have to take out a loan to make any major improvement. I guess I'll have focus my upgrade(itis) elsewhere. 

When upgrading a turntable, you need to go up substantially to make an improvement. I started with a Rega P1 and thought I could go up to P6P8 and there was not a lot of difference between them. I wind up getting a clear audio performance DC with a AMG cartridge and a musical surroundings battery Operated Phono stage

+2 a better Phono-Pre will make a significant improvement.

I currently us a Zesto Andros 1.2.  It was one of the best upgrades that I have ever made.  Also, the 12AX7 JJ tubes last for thousands of hours, are inexpensive and available from all of the typical web-stores.

Good luck!

Here is my .02 cents as firm believer in source 1st, I would trade the p6 with Ania and do what I can to get the P8....if that’s a stretch get it with their carbon cart, ( I have that combo)keep the fono mc as you won’t get much for it.

enjoy that combo for awhile, get to know it, then if you want to upgrade, then try a better cart like the Ania Pro or something else, listen to that thru your fono mc and see what you hear....its better, about the same or worse....my guess better.

THEN after that I would look at better phono stages.

Turntable/arm....then cart...then phono stage.....gives best bang for buck, you can’t amplify what you don’t get from your front end....source 1st.

My Rega with el cheapo cart kicks some ass especially for the money, I have more expensive tables that combo holds its own.

I too own a P6. As evidenced by the many posts, there are disparate opinions. One thing perhaps on which all can agree is that there are multiple upgrade paths, each of which can improve sound quality. My P6 has a Sumiko Songbird cartridge, similar in price and design to your Ania, elliptical not line contact, but preferred by my dealer to the Ania. 
 

I chose to upgrade my Musical Surroundings Phononena II solid state phono stage. I purchased a pre owned Modwright SWP 9.0 SE, a well regarded tube phono stage that originally retailed for about $3,000. The improvement in sound after adding this phono stage was more noticeable than the upgrade from my ProJect Debut III with Ortofon Bronze cartridge to my P6 and Songbird. Instrument timbres are more natural, imaging is better with deeper soundstage. Bass is deeper with no loss in tightness, and background noise to my ears is equally inaudible. The sound is simply more analog, more lifelike. 

Whatever you choose to do, try to audition any upgrade in your listening room with your equipment. I purchased the Modwright from a dealer with the right to return it. Once it was hooked up I never thought about sending it back. 

I had the chance to compare 3 different phono preamps if u care to upgrade there. I compared the rega aria, the rogue ares II and just the phono pre amp in my receiver. I didn’t think the rega was a huge difference from the receiver. However the rogue had more detail to it. I liked the fact it had separate power supply and tubes. I didn’t get a chance to try Hegel v10. Like sameyers1 I’m also running an ortofon bronze which was a great improvement over the red.