Forever turntable under $2000

Some great suggestions but I would join "leotis" and get a Merrill GEM Dandy PolyTable.  I've know George for decades and he can get you some goose-bumps!

This "budget" table gets all the trickle down R&D from his Merrill-Williams R.E.A.L. 101.3 Turntable (to often overlooked-I would love to own .  Speed & stability controls are probably the best on the planet and dampening isolation is exceptional.  The review by Michael Fremer should have been vindication enough for most to seek this GEM out. 

I should add that I have purchased several analog products from Mr. Merrill and have always been satisfied.  None however could approach the joy I get from buying the Sutherland N1 Preamplifier from George.

Sleepwalker, The coreless motor in the new Technics turntables, even including the SP10R that was tested by M Fremer and found to be the most speed stable turntable that he has ever evaluated, derives from the first coreless turntable motor, invented and marketed by Dual in the late 1950s or early 1960s.  How tried and true do you want it to be?  Is the 60 year history of its progenitors in the marketplace sufficient to convince you the new motor is likely to be reliable?

The motors of the Pioneer P10 and P3, the Kenwood L07D, the Yamaha GT2000, the Victor TT101, and even up to and including the Brinkmann Bardo, and others I am not thinking of, all belong to this same lineage. In fact, Dual sued Kenwood back in the day, because the L07D motor was too exactly like their motor.  Kenwood had to produce a second generation of the L07D in order to avoid patent infringement.

Technics' mistake (IMO) in the making of the new generation of their direct drives was to make them too much like the old SL1200 (and SL1500, 1600, 1700, etc) in outward appearance.  However, I understand why they did it.  Below the surface, the new models are superior in every way.  I side with Chakster in defense of the old line, too. With some mods, they can be made to perform very well.  Of course, DJ's liked them too.  Why? Because they like other DD turntables come up to speed very rapidly, and because they take a lot of abuse.

I have heard a DP80.  Great table.  Thats another option.

Yamaha PX2 linear tracking turntable are very good. Will need to
modify the tone arm belt . Its not difficult.
Here is a picture of a modified tonearm belt.
Dave's Audio Upgrades