Your choice - TT, Arm, Stage, Cartridge - $5000 budget

Yeah if a Prime is on your list that is about the best I have seen. There was one sold on another board by a guy upgrading and he sold it out of good will for $2400 which is the lowest I have seen to date. 

If its not on your list just skip it because nothing is going to make you want it if you really are not interested in the table/brand even at a good price.

For the record I am listening to Blues Breakers with John Mayall and Eric Clapton. I would say a very nice 3d state, well balanced with nice resolution and smooth sound.

If the VPI is not for you I would consider Well Tempered Amadeus. I think some of the SME or Basis tables are going to be hard to work in your budget with a nice Phono stage unless you go really cheap for your first cart which is a viable strategy. A cheap cart can sound pretty good on a nice analog setup. A expensive cart on a cheap analog system not so much. 

I think buying the Second Tier version of the new Technics would also be an option. It would  be new and high performance. More on the quick tight analytical side but a lot of bang for the buck I am guessing from reading the reviews. 

Avid Tables.

Whacky,

I have the Chinook, ART 9 cartridge, and Primaluna Dialogue HP integrated as a pairing--I have all 3 running off a Technics 1200 GAE and feeding PSB Imagine T2s.

They all sound great together. 

I can tell you you that the ART 9 is superb.  I'd pay $2k for it, but it costs only $1k. 

The Chinook is just great.  It is, as others note, DEAD quiet.  It's also got some serious MC gain.  Someone on here once pushed me really hard to upgrade my phono preamp, saying it would make the most difference.  I have to say that that guy was spot on.   Swapping out different cartridges, integrateds, and cables did not make as big of difference as a solid phono preamp like the Chinook. 

I would do what others have said and buy a used phono pre of high caliber (budgeting $1k-1500), a new cartridge of great quality but not big money ($1k or so), and put the remainder on the table (~$2,500 -3k).  But I'd leave room in my analysis for fuzzy logic--e.g., if I saw the right table come up but it left me shaving a bit on a cartridge I might allocate funds around because a cartridge is easier to swap out/in than a whole new table.  

I'd definitely be open to and curious to hear the iPhono2 http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/micro-iphono2/.  Michael Fremer and others think this thing is amazing for $1k.  It could free up some money for you to push towards a table. 

Sorry that I cannot be too much help in just recommending the whole package, which your question asks.  I think you have a great budget and are likely to be getting into the area where you will get intoxicating sound or close to it.  

By the way, the ART9 fit my needs so well because it allowed me to stay under $1k on the cartridge while getting a great table and phono pre.  I love the cartridge and my TT and pre give me room to put on a pricier cartridge in the future, while I don't feel I'm missing much in the present.  

Best of luck and keep us posted on your journey.

That'll leave you around 2000 clams to buy a nice stand and vinyl.