I agree, the Rega RP8 and P8 are amazing turntables that provide sound quality that is vastly out of proportion to their cost and appearance.
I had an RP8 and an RP10 at the same time for a while, and currently have a P8. I bought my RP8 when I had the much more expensive AMG Viella, which I just wasn't enjoying. I sold the AMG and kept the Rega. I then tried the top spec Linn LP12 with Radikal, Ekos SE etc, again at about 6 times the cost of the Rega. And again I preferred the RP8.
That was when I bought the RP10 expecting it to be be much better than the RP8. In some ways it was - image size, drama, speed - but it was also bright, brittle sounding and a little fatiguing, which I ultimately attributed to the ceramic platter. I preferred the RP8 and sold the RP10.
But then I bought my final turntable, a Kuzma Stabi Ref (with a variety of arms over time, including the Kuzma Stogi Ref, Kuzma 4 Point, Audio Origami PU7 and Alphason HR100), and this was finally a noticeable step up from the Rega. But it took a while to find a turntable and arm combination to beat the humble Rega RP8, and even then with some arm and cartridge combinations the Rega could still compete in musicality and dynamics. But I was happy with the Kuzma so sold the RP8.
Recently I found myself missing the Rega sound again and bought a P8 to sit alongside my Kuzma. (I didn't buy the P10 because of the ceramic platter.) It sounds amazing. I could easily live with this as my only turntable. It is highly engaging, musical and toe-tapping. It can easily get the best out of a high end cartridge and phono stage and provides the bass depth and imaging of a much more expensive deck. My Kuzma with (currently) an Alphason arm is better still, but not by much and the margin is not as big as you might expect given the difference in cost.
The current Rega decks are bargains at their respective prices.