Best turntable/cartridge combo for $700-$750


I have been out of analog playback for several years and want some advice about turntables and cartridges up to about $700-750. I have seen a few prepackaged combo's by Project, Rega, and Music Hall. I would prefer more cartridge options than these combos offer. I realize my price range may limit my options. I have been recently quoted on a Soto Comet II with RB250amr and an Aurum Wood Classic, but the price is $450 over my budget.I am not familiar with this cartridge's performance or value.... The Sota table by itself seems overpriced.....I have a Creek SE5350 Classic integrated amp with their MM phono stage, and a pair of Silverline Preludes. I use Analysis Plus Oval 12 speaker cable.... All advice welcomed
sunnyjim
There's no question in my mind that, although I haven't heard them, the KAB mods must be a great improvement on the stock model. Re: the mat I simply listened to the two and chose the Rega felt one for both which was handy for keeping the comparison to the tables themselves even though the Rega felt mat would be unlikely to be used with the Technics. There are better/different mats for both tables but I didn't want to muddy the water any more than necessary.

Attempting direct comparisons are ultimately confused at best because optimizing the very important cartridge/arm relationship gets thrown out by using the same cart for both. I used the Exact because it was the best appropriately priced cartridge I had on hand that was broken in. I later put an older Sumiko Bluepoint Special on the Rega to great effect which surprised me that I liked it better in some ways than the Exact. I haven't tried it on the Technics yet.

05-15-08: Piedpiper
Attempting direct comparisons are ultimately confused at best because optimizing the very important cartridge/arm relationship gets thrown out by using the same cart for both. I used the Exact because it was the best appropriately priced cartridge I had on hand that was broken in. I later put an older Sumiko Bluepoint Special on the Rega to great effect which surprised me that I liked it better in some ways than the Exact. I haven't tried it on the Technics yet.
I use a Denon DL-160 mounted on a Sumiko headshell on my Technics. The Rega and Technics tonearms are pretty similar in effective mass, though that can vary on the Technics depending on the headshell.

I get the feeling that the Technics would like HOMCs, because it sure likes the DL-160 (esp. w/fluid damper), and A-Goner Ferrari's review of the Blue Point #2 on his Goldring GR1.2 indicates that the DL-110, 160, and Sumiko Blue Point all have a similar (good) presentation, while the Sumiko sounds a little more refined and detailed.

There are also some Technics/DL-103 enthusiasts out there, though I suspect they use a heavier headshell and the extra counterweight to match the effective mass to the DL-103's low compliance.
How about this?
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1214939629
It's about as close to set and forget as you could hope. No tweaking or modding needed, and the price is right. The technics would be nice too.
I recently faced a similar decision and decided to go with pre-owned (1-week old) Rega P3-24 and a pre-owned Audio Technica AT440MLa cartridge. The total cost, delivered to my home, was $720. I'm absolutely thrilled with the sound! There's really little comparison between my old rig (Technics SL-3200) and thew new set-up. The most obvious improvement is in bass response and resolution.
Mika