Help me pick a turntable set up

bignamehere mentioned some good options to look at in that price range.  I'd also take a look at the MoFi Ultradeck.  I heard one recently and was impressed.

I have the Clearaudio Emotion which is very similar to the Marantz and it's a great turntable for the money.  I owned the Concept and thought it sounded great, but it didn't work in my system.  I have springy floors and couldn't wall mount it.  Very sensitive to footfalls.  I have a Music Hall 7.1 and that may be my best turntable.  I currently have it setup with an old Shure V15 MKIV cart with a Jico SAS stylus, neither of which are very expensive.  Sounds great!

Take  look at VPI turntables - they have a couple of models to suit your budget.

Also the Music Hall MMF-7.3 Turntable


Regards

Under the heading “high value, high performance” the moving magnet AudioTechnica VM540ML is almost in a class by itself. The big deal here is the micro line stylus profile that delivers 2 to 3 times the operating hours lifespan of elliptical and Shibata, while tracking is for almost all intents and purposes just as good as the Shibata. 

Music Direct has a refurbished Marantz TT 15 with Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony Wood cartridge for $1199.00. That would leave you $800.00 for a preamp.