Turntable Upgrade Suggestion

get a first generation Nottingham Spacedeck and put a second arm on it. I have two Basis Vectors on mine. All the table you will likely ever need. I saw one a few weeks back for 1100 with no arm.

Marc,
I found Rega has a recent motor upgrade for the P3 or P2. Also Heed Audio has a PSU for Rega and others and of course the VPI SDS could be used also. Also other Rega tweeks include a motor & spindle vibration banding with elastomer band that is said to capture and convert vibration to heat, Iron Audio, groove tracer, the Funk Firm and others make platters etc.
Enjoy the music!
Jon Morstad

Hey one more idea if keeping your P3 is the Origin live DC motor upgrade. Who knows you may just choose to keep the thing it sounds so good! Check out the reviews....
Jon

Marc Congradulations. The decoupling priciple that the OL people incorporate in the stub and headshell piece should also work well with the decoupling engineered into the VTAF. You may want to check out the 6moons article(s) using both the OL Silver and the VTAF to great effect, if you have not already. It will affirm your good choice. Hey keep us posted on the upgrade process and performance observations.
Enjoy your music, Jon

Jomoinc:

Just thought you'd like to know that I took your advice and have an OL Silver on the way ;) I haven't decided if I'm up to the task for installing the VTAF, but if so, then this is an elegant solution that allows me to use my Planar 3 with an arm that will work well with my new cartridge (i.e. highish effective mass).

Take care,
-Marc

Marc, I guess better means whatever best fits your goals. If you hope to one day have the supporting cast of equipment and your personal listening enjoyment would actually increase with the elevation in audio performance, plan your project accordingly. I sometimes use the "fun per dollar ratio" when I attempt to use both sides of the brain at once (how often does that happen?). Unless you have a severe case of "hardware lust" and must have it now, the next levels of TT customization can be both rewarding and enjoyable taken step by step.
Other arms some people like are the Hadcock modified unipivot said to work well with higher performance carts. Or even the wild string and magnet suspendened Schroeder 1 among others.
Check out the TNT website / listening tests / analog if you have not already for some research. And have some fun while you collect your input. Be sure you have enough quality pre-amplification to correctly match up to what ever cart you choose to use!
Enjoy your music!
Jon

Jomoinc:

I like the idea of the OL silver, as it's a relatively high mass arm (14g). By "or better" are you referring to other arms in the Origin line? Do you have any idea what an OL silver would go for used on Audiogon?

Thanks!
-Marc

Another way to go would be to get the Riggle VTA quick change unit on the Planar and use your existing RB 300 for your mono cart. Then step up to a Origin Live Silver Arm (or better)and use the Riggle VTA on it also. This would allow you to very quickly swap arms on the Planar 3 and also receive the major sonic benifits of an arm worthy to take with you later to a new turntable after your budget recovers. Kind of a step by step approach. There is more gold to be mined out of the Planar 3. By going this way you still move up to new sonic plateaus while you learn to match your cart / step up trans/ phono preamp / interconnects / amp / speakers which will all show ther limits as the signal gets better and you decide you want more of what you like.
Enjoy you music! Jon

Marc,

If it were me, I'd stay away from the removable headshell tonearms...... Why not try to get a little VPI Scout/JMW 9 and a second armwand. It's really easy to swap out the wands with these designs. The arm/table is designed to TOGETHER and would probably be in your budget used. BTW, I love my ARIES.

Chris

Maybe a tonearm compatiable with the Zyx headshell? http://www.sibatech.co.jp/ZYX/ZYXcatalog.htm

I'm not sure what arms would work, but this sounds like a good idea to me ;)

-Marc