Which TT the Pro-Ject RM-5 SE or Rega P3-24?

About 20% of the vinyl I have purchased in the past two years has been worth a
damn. The rest has been crap, although advertised as near mint or better. My
vinyl purchases have nearly ceased as a result of my lack of trust in what sellers
claim.

In the meantime, I have purchased some truly exceptional CDs.

To each his own. We all have different standards of acceptability. I have little
tolerance for surface noise, and I have zero tolerance for clicks and pops.

I agree with Tvad's suggestion you audition the Technics. Its' build quality and speed stability are superior to the Rega. That being said, in my experience, when both are properly set up I prefer the sound of the Rega. It's a personal choice.

I thought that one kind of had to put up with surface noise, clicks and pops as a given.

Is this a beginner's naive idea? (I am really asking.)

I don't know much yet about the world of vinyl, but I thought that the thing was that the sound that one could get through all of the imperfections was worth it. Over the last 4 months I have had a lot of fun going to the used record store in town--some of what I have found end up being unacceptable, but the guy lets me return those records. So far I have been listening to what some have called a "forgiving" TT (the pro-ject debut III)--don't know if that has anything to do with the fact that I have enjoyed it so much that I decided to upgrade.

Near Mint records, properly cleaned, can sound very quiet. They will never be as quiet as digital. Analog LPs
are played back via a friction based medium. The musical satisfaction, in my opinion far outweighs the flaws. Trashed and dirty records are going to sound awful. A final suggestion, if you are happy with the Project why change? The upgrade treadmill is hard to get off of once you start. A record cleaning machine may be a better use of your money.

I agree with Narrod about the table upgrade. You can realize an improvement
in sound by purchasing a custom MintLP Best Tractor protractor ($100) and
setting up your cartridge following the detailed instructions. The benefits are
worth much more than the cost of the protractor. However, each MintLP is
made specifically for your table/arm combo, so if you believe you will be
changing tables soon, then the MintLP is probably not the best investment
since you won't be able to use it on your next table. On the other hand, if you
think you may keep your table and squeeze more performance out of it, then
the MintLP is a great way to do it.

Also, you can realize a nice improvement by upgrading your cartridge rather
than changing the table and arm.