My turntable experience has only involved the rega P1 and the rega fono pre stage. So keep that in mind in reading this.
I was down to either the P1 or the Pro-Ject Debut tables when I was making my decision, and I ended up choosing Rega for a couple of reasons. First I had heard nothing but raving success from folks that have bought the P1 with no turntable experience, and were up and running and enjoying the table in zero time flat (an experience which I encountered myself). Second, Rega is recognzed as being quality when it comes to turntables from everything I had read, and I figured even though this doesnt have their cart on it, they wouldnt put their name on it if it was crap. Third, I got a nice deal on it from Chris at Eugene Hi Fi, and pulled the trigger.
End of the day I couldnt be happier. As I dont have a basis of comparison, I am not going to go into how it sounds as who knows how it would stack up against another player in my system, but I can say I am happy with the purchase.
I also cant say whether the pre stage is any better or worse than anything else, but I have been considering something like what Nick is recommending above or this:
http://www.needledoctor.com/Pro-Ject-Tube-Box-SE?sc=2&category=401in the future...just to see the impact of a tube based pre on the front end...