update recommendations

ok stringreen...fair enuf. like i said in my first post, i'm pretty much a "rockhead" and the rega/heed orbit/vh audio power cord combo RAWKS.
and it's all good...your post has even made me curious about the superscoutmaster ;)

Again - sorry - I certainly didn't mean anything by my post, except to say that the Rega is a good value for the money, but not like the higher priced spread. I am a professional violinist - I am sure you have heard me play. I chose the VPI because it sounds more like music than some others. I am not talking about the fullness, the alacrity, the sweetness...I'm talking about the ability of the sound to portray the facsimile of the real thing. That "real thing" I'm talking about is not an absolute. My violin sounds different in Carnegie Hall in New York, than Boston Symphony Hall in Boston, than Alice Tulley Hall, etc. I know that my voice sounds different in the different rooms of my house, however, in all cases, everyone knows that it is I who is talking. I really don't know what it is, but sometimes I am really coaxed in thinking that there is a real instrument or singer working in my living room. I speculate its the absence of resonances, or very few if any poorly resolved reflections, .. there should be an ease to the music - I don't know what it is scientifically, but I certainly know it when I hear it.

kind of a snooty reply there, stringreen. my perception of the sound i'm getting now, in relation to the scoutmaster's sound, is an (ephemeral) "bubble" heh?
i've never heard the vpi scoutmaster, so there is a chance that it may play at your "big-boy" level. i do know that when i made a decision on what turntable i was going to buy (within my budget), it came down to the upgraded rega 25 and a vpi scout. i researched other's opinions and the impression i got was that the scout had a fuller sound, but the rega had the amorphous PRAT thing over it. a couple musicians said they preferred rega liveliness over vpi fullness...i went with the rega. when i added the vh audio power cord, i got a full, lively sound that i thought i'd never get at my level of monetary aural investment.
that said, i may hear the vpi scoutmaster one day and find that u are right, but right now i'm a VERY happy camper.

I too had a fully tricked out P25, however when I went to a fully tricked out VPI Superscoutmaster, it brought me to an entirely different level. I don't want to break your bubble...the P25 is a great value, however it doesn't begin to run with the big boys.

i have a rega 25 with the platter upgrades, expressimo counterweight and the heed orbit power supply. i thought the sound was a little "thin" so i bought my first non-stock power cord this week. the cord was a vh audio flavor 4. i first placed this cord on my audio refinement complete integrated amp and experienced only a marginal improvement over the stock cord. i then placed the flavor 4 on the heed power supply. wow...i mean WOW!!! i can't believe the full powerful visceral sound i'm now getting. i'm kind of a "rockhead" so the flavor 4 may not be your thing. but i'm telling u the rega 25 can do some magical stuff with the right upgrades.

Thanks, I will look into those ideas. I bought the unit at a bargain price as a dealer demo so can afford to put some back into it.

I have a fully tricked out Rega 25. I think the best, (most cost effective) upgrades were the subplatter, (I have the Deep Groove) and the Heed Orbit outboard power supply. I also have the Groovetracer platter, ClearAudio Turbo dropped counterweight, Black Diamond Racing Feet set, Living Voice Mystic Mat, rewired arm, (Incognito-this should also be considered as a cost effective upgrade).

I know retail pricing on all this stuff takes it way up there, but at the prices I found most of this for, it was a bargain and REALLY raised the level of performance right up there with some of the best.