Upgrade turntable from Project Debut 3 SE

michaelgordon

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Looking at upgrading my turntable from Project Debut 3 SE.

Would a Rega P1 poss P2 or a Project Debut Carbon be an upgrade? Anything else i should consider?
 
There are a few upgrade options. Obviously you could look at just changing the player which I'd say at that level would be the best option regardless of which one you choose. All the turntables mentioned are well received (including the one you already own), so I really think it will be down to the smaller areas of the player that make you smile.

Other areas to consider are the cartridge upgrade for the turntable or even the phono stage to see how much more you can get out of the Debut you already own
 
Cheers Shane, being helpful again.

Ive just got a new amp & phono stage the NAD PP4, the debut has the Acrylic-it platter as i never liked the metal one it came with.

Its probably due a new cartridge, its never been changed its about 6 years old but not that much use but would have no idea how to change it over. It looks like a fiddly job and im not nimble fingered.
 
Any of those three will be a side step, not worth doing. Putting money into a cartridge would be a much better upgrade. Depending on budget I’d look at either an Ortofon 2m red or blue (can always upgrade red to blue and onward with a stylus change later) or an Audio Technica. Either a 95 or VM series with as good a stylus as you can afford. Again lots of stylus upgrades available later if you want.
 
Cheers @MaryWhitehouse tbh ive always shyed away from looking at cartridges, apart from the changing its always seemed a bit of a black art picking one.
 
No problem. I guarantee it’s where you’re going to get most bang for your buck at the moment. Changing isn’t bad but if you’re not confident get a dealer to do it. Shouldn’t cost much as rarely takes long. As for choosing either of those paths are well trodden and enjoyed. If it were me I would, and have go down the AT VM route. I currently use a EN stylus and hope to go to a Shiabata fairly soon. The EN was a huge upgrade on my previous and current turntable, both of which had similar level carts to what you have now.
 
do you have a budget? A new cart isn’t necessarily cheap, and you might decide it’s worth waiting and switching to a different TT given there are no other upgrade options.

i‘m running a Denon DL-110 on a Debut 3 upgraded to basically be the same as what you have and really like it.

For a long time I had this going into a CA 540p phono stage and a CA AV receiver with a vintage technics amp driving my fromt speakers. It wasn’t until I got my hands on a significant upgrade on the amp with a better phono stage that I realised the Debut 3 did have more to offer. But whilst i am currently settled I am starting to wonder how long before I consider replacing the TT Altogether and going up a class or two.
 
Budget wise, id say £400 - £500 max really, i like my vinyl but im wondering what the point of diminishing returns will be.

My amp is a Musical Fidelity M2Si, phono stage is NAD PP4, Speakers Dali Oberon 5. Im using a Hiby R6 android music player as a sort of mini network streamer as it doe MQA tidal and i can control it from my phone.

I dont think going to spend £1000 (not that i ever would) on a new turntable would give that much better results over what i have in my system. I remember when i bought the debut that it was very well reviewed but it is 6 or 7 years old and technology does move on, which is why i thought about the two Regas maybe better now than what my debut is. Would a Rega Planar 3 be a step up?

The cart would make more sense and the linked ATs were very well reviewed on AVForums and would be better than the Cart currently on which has never been changed.
 
If you have a bit more money go for an AT VM540EN cartridge for just £50 more than the one you linked yesterday. You get a better cartridge body which is worth having. You’ll hear big improvement. If you don’t then your Project needs to go lol. If so then take the cart off and buy a Planar 3 without cart and have this one fitted. They’ll go together really well. The worst that’ll happen is it may mean the tone arm needs raising by a few mm but spacers are very cheap (£10) and quick to fit.
 
i think id max want to spend £150 on a new cart but dont fancy messing with the tone arm, that thing is a pain on the prioject but that would need to be it.

Id save for a planar 3 which would be absolute max id spend and would look for an open box or something like that but it would need to be with the Elys cart, id be spent out then.
 
I went from a Project Debut 3 SE to a Rega RP3, definitely a step up in performance but no where near the improvement that I got from changing the cartridge that it came fitted with.
The original cartridge was an OM10 which I didn't get on with at all. An Ortofon 2m Blue made a big difference in terms of detail and clarity and shows what the Debut 3 SE was capable of. However , I found the Blue to be rather too clean, almost CD like so I changed it for a Nagoaka MP110. This cartridge is more warm/analogue sounding if not quite as detailed as the Blue. I then swapped the MP110 stylus (not the body) for the one fitted to the MP200 and I now get the best of both cartridges.
If you have the OM10, then a cartridge change will give big improvements!

The Debut 3 SE is more than capable of matching the Rega P2 I believe, f you just want a change, why not try fitting an acrylic platter - looks great against that gloss black plinth.
 
I'm getting back into records, and I have my eye on the new Project Debut Carbon EVO which comes with the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge pre-fitted and aligned at the factory. Its easy to upgrade to the 2M Blue down the line, as you only need to buy the stylus, which will fit into the cartridge already fitted.

It looks like a pretty good option to me.
 
I bought the Project Debut 3 SE a few years ago after wanting a low to mid priced reintroduction to vinyl and since then I've gone a bit update mad, perhaps to the point of lipstick / pig proportions. Since I bought it I've added a Ortofon 2M Blue cart (significant improvement over the OM 10 it came with), acrylic platter (very significant improvement), a Speedbox power supply (a reasonably significant improvement) and I've recently added a Project pre-amp (another reasonably significant improvement). Maybe I should have just saved the money and got a better turntable but these upgrades were made over a period of time and each one improved the sound. The problem is that after each improvement you get used to the sound and soon get an itchy wallet again - a problem I think we can all identify with
:)
 

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