Turntable around 2k

For a suspended design a SOTA could be a nice option for you. I used to own a Nova Series V which would be out of your budget, but perhaps a Star or Sapphire could work for you. If you go to the SOTA site they have some deals on refurbished and demo models that could be of interest to you.

In a non-suspended design I now use a Scheu Analog Premier MkII with battery powered motor. New they are around your budget. Unfortunately they don't come up used very often. If you're interested in this table Hudson Audio is the importer and you can contact Tom Hills for more information.

there's a teres with an origin live arm and a denon 103 for $1800 for sale right now on here. no affiliation to the seller.

I'll also echo the opinion on the Gyro. I was recently shopping in the same price range and preferred the Gyro to the other turntables I listened to. The others were VPI Scout and Aries and a Spacedeck. The Gyro just has a natural, flowing presentation to my ears that I didn't pick up with the VPI's or Spacedeck.

The VPI's have a big, solid sound, but seem to lack a bit of detail and delicacy when the music calls for it, and as such don't sound very "open" to me (relative to my other choices) - but wow, was there weight to the sound. The Spacedeck was the opposite - wide open, but not very solid sounding, a bit thin and seeming to have more pitch stability issues than the VPI or Gyro. The Gyro just seemed better balanced for my tastes - an open, exciting presentation that has plenty of body and solidity to it.

Your best bet is to try to listen if you can...I was lucky to be able to listen several times before making a decision, and as such have wound up with a setup that I like very much.

I have owned the michell with the rega arm and a VDH frog and was pleased with its performance. My biggest distraction was the lack of VTA adjustment or the difficult Michell vta adjustment knob. I upgraded the cartridge to a zyx airy3 and did get a noticeable upgrade in playback quality but both cartridges were fine with the system. I have sinced moved on to a Maplenoll ariadne table but i cascaded my michell/rb300/frog to my daughter who is thrilled with it. The maplenoll is a hard table to find but when they come up, you can get one in the price range you are looking at and the quality of sound is significantly better than the michell. But the michell is a good table and pretty easy to set up and operate. If possible i would look for a different arm that offers easier vta adjustment if I was looking at the michell.

Thanks! I appreciate the insights.