Help Picking a turntable

Very solid advice by mofi, lowrider & sbank above.  With hardware, I prefer Sota and Rega along with Ortofon & Dynavector, but hardware suggestions are irrelevant at this point.  You have a tasty ARC rig that is capable of revealing very minute detail.  Instead of getting on a merry-go-round of empirical testing and upgrades, do your homework and understand what you're getting into first.  The table, arm and cartridge are just the beginning, as others have noted above.  Source material, surface cleaning, storage, position in your rack, phono stage, interconnects, all must be considered.

$3K will buy a very nice vinyl set from any one of a number of companies, but because of the rest of your system, deferring gratification toward a larger investment made later could be a more prudent course of action.  Your system would definitely reveal the improvement possible going from a $3K level to a $4K level.  Many of us who've been spinning vinyl for years will swear that digital simply can't compare.  I am one of them.  The best way to discover if this might be true for you, of course, is to take the time to do some auditions.  There really is no substitute for this step.  Yours are the ears that must be satisfied, and this stuff is way too much $$$ to guess about, even at the entry level.

Since we all have the vinyl disease (otherwise, why would we post here), you can ask for input whenever you need it and we'll happily tell you what we think.  With that in mind, keep us up-to-date on your journey.  Enjoy your exploration of vinyl and happy listening whatever you decide!

Get your hands on a VPI Classic 1, 2 or 3 before they discontinue them......
I have a dealer who will give you a very competitive discount.......

I suggest this over the prime, as the heft of the non suspended table,
will give you a solid foundation for any cartridge you ever want to throw at it,
without compromise......

I'd suggest starting with an Ortofon 2M Black and move up from there......

Another vote for Nottingham Analogue. Not well known, perhaps, but the quality is superb. I have used their equipment for 19 years now, and built  my all-ESL system around it. 

Amen to the VPI Classic.  Very good table at its original price.  Discounted, its a great deal.  That VPI arm mates very well with an AT OC9/II.  Hard to beat at twice the price.

I agree with many of the guys on here about researching what your getting into.  I would pick up a older vintage table for under $1k and try it out get a few records and play them see how you like it. then if you fall in love with it like most of us here have then sell the vintage table for pretty much what you paid for it and get a nice set up to take advantage of your system. it'd be a shame to spend thousands on a set up and find its not for you. To be honest there are some nice vintage tables that will give you good results for cheep and give you the taste of things to come.

I run vintage as well. Garrard 301 grease bearing, Jelco 750l, Van Den Hul MC10  cart and a Denon 103 MC (that Denon is a great cart for under $500) and custom plinth.