Now, it sound like the only thing you need to do before buying the P3-24 is compare it to the P5 or P7!

Yeah, I like that P7, too!

Does your dealer offer any trade in value?

The P3 24 is a gateway drug, for sure. It's like starting at pot instead of tobacco or alcohol.

But the P7 is like Oxycontin - I'd say to skip over the gateway drugs and go hard core, right from the get go. You'd have the P7 for a decade or more, but I bet you'd become habituated to the P3 24 and end up seeking higher highs relatively quickly...

Come on, you know ya want it.

I agree about the P5. The P7 is the place ya oughta be.

I can hear it calling you. (It's so good at low level information retrieval, that's why I can hear it.)

In all pseudo-seriousness. I do believe in the "buy once" theory of Hi Fi gear. You will grow into the P7 and therefore, will only need to buy one turntable. You'll actually be saving long term money by buying the P7. I know I goof around alot, but I'm being forthright in this case, as far as you know.

until last week, i had a p2 that was mine for about a year, cool glass table and all. for the money, it was a screaming deal, but, i never got the "magic" from it that i thought it should have. last week i had the opportunity to move up to a different brand that was a quantuum jump (separate post in this catagory) and am very pleased, but now realize that i could really use more watts to get the full bass footprint that this deck is capable of delivering. watch out young man as this hobby is insideous that way.
p.s. i spent a lot of my college loan money on stereo gear many moons ago. watch out.

tom

Quote:
I'm trying to approach this cautiously.

Mom just found out how much a P3 costs, though, and is somewhat less than pleased that I intend to purchase one.

Buddha's Eighth Pillar of Hi Fi: "What "she" don't know won't hurt you."

I'm sure many of our fellow audiophiles can regale us with tales of "boldly sneaking" gear into the system under cover of darkness, etc...

(*I use "she" in this instance simply because it fit your example, it applies equally well to "he" (father, spouse, S.O., etc...) if the case is appropriate.)

In my car circle, mods are described in semi-code as having a price of 10% of their actual cost when we are in the presence of non-believing pagans - such as spouses.

What's frightening is that the 10% price never appears patently so low as to be unbelievable.

This is also true in audio.

"How much was that preamp?"

"$550.00" (code for $5,500.00).

"Oh."

Notice that $550.00 appears perfectly reasonable on its face.

i have had my new TT for over a week now and the wife has not noticed, i have even played some 180 gram discs i got yesterday for her and we sat and looked right at it and she didn't say anything. if it doesn't have 4 legs and require a saddle, i honestly don't think she would notice. i brought home a new motorcycle a few years ago that was deep blue and replaced one that was sea-foam green and a different model and she didn't notice until one of the kids piped up, she wound up with a new horse for that one.

tom

But do you notice when a new or better horse appears?

she has never bought one for herself, always suckers me into it.

tom