Pro-ject Debut Carbon vs Debut III ??

The Debut Carbon is so good at $399 there's really nothing to discuss until you get to the RP3. I took some of my LPs to a hi-fi shop to audition an amplifier and I was *shocked* at how good the Carbon is. It's my unequivocal recommendation at $500-600 and under. The smartest $100 you can spend is to get a Debut Carbon over a Debut III.

Just a way for me to enjoy some certain recordings on occasion that I enjoy more on vinyl than on digital. 90% of my listening will remain on CD/SACD.

Maybe not, if you get a good enough turntable. Check the sales figures; LP sales have handily eclipsed SACD as the high-res medium of choice.

If now you are talking about spending more money, then YES, the Rega RP3 is going to be an upgrade from the Debut Carbon.

Thanks all. I am considering reconsidering my price range, but not sure yet. For me there are 3 possible price ranges I will decide upon:
1) Debut Carbon @ $400, 2) Rega RP3 @ 1000, or 3) Clearaudio Concept or Rega RP6 or VPI Traveler at the very top of my price range. I haven't calculated what the VPI Traveler would cost with tonearm plus cartridge, so it may turn out to be out of my price range. I don't want to get carried away since I have a relatively small record collection.