Considering upgrading - what to do?

[Mshx]

Hello :)

I currently own a Pro-Ject Debut III which I bought secondhand. I've come to the point where I'm considering upgrading for something a bit more expensive.

I bought the turntable secondhand with the upgraded acrylic platter it's hooked up to a Pro-Ject Phono box and on to my amp. The pickup is the Ortofon 2M Red.

What I'm currently considering is upgrading for the Pro-Ject The Classic (Comes with 2M Silver) here where I live it's currently on sale for €870 and I could probably get some trade-in discount if I trade in my Debut III. I think that the Classic looks like a solid "higher-end'ish" turntable, however there are things about it where I'm reconsidering for example the anti-skate system which is the same as on the Debut III (it kind of looks cheap to me?), the fact that it's manual speed switching (I rarely play anything but 33½s but anyway) I've also considered the Rega Planar 3 + 2M blue which would cost about the same as the Classic.. There's also Thorens who seems to be making some nice turntables in the same price range as the before mentioned..

A third option I could go with would be to save the money, upgrade the stylus on the Debut III to a 2M Blue and then spend the rest on records :)

What would you do?

[Nigel Gomez]

Upgrade the stylus on the Debut III to a 2M Blue and then spend the rest on records.

This is the easiest upgrade to try first.

[lenjack]

Agreed.

[Smoke Screen]

Of course upgrading to a 2M Blue stylus is the most near at hand way to upgrade.
Anyway,you also might consider to get something old and proven exellent. It wouldnd
strain your budget but will come without a warranty card....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN01FjYQVHk

Personaly i have one myself. It replaced successfull a Thorens TD-320. And even the
Thorens is better than the Classic btw.

[Mshx]

Thanks a lot for the replies. I'm not in the market for a fully automatic I think :)..

I'm still a bit split.. I makes sense to try out the 2M blue and If I Decide to upgrade the turntable at some point I can just take that pickup over to the the new TT.

However I've been taking a look at the market for used TTs here where I live and I must say that some of the Thorens TTs looks like some really great players even better than what you can get new for the same budget today?

[KentT]

Yes, you can take the cartridge and install it on another turntable and tonearm. And yes, I'd recommend a 2M Blue as an easy cost effective upgrade path. Plug and play, the most audible upgrade in the 2M line.

[Van_Isle]

Do you have a way to clean your records? That and a stylus upgrade? Pre-amp upgrade?

What's the rest of your system? Will it support the $ put into a source upgrade?