So many great golden era DD tables out there, what do you recommend for $1000?

@uberwalz
That’s what I’m sayin’. The plinth was cheap and the two arm wands were just as bad.
If you are looking for a serious table within your budget there are two Kenwood KD-550s with tonearms included listed on ebay .
I have owned the Kenwood KD- 500 with a MMT arm and a KD-600 with a Grace 747 arm.
You will not go wrong with these Kenwoods!
Here ya go!
https://liquidaudio.com.au/kenwood-kd-500-kd-550-direct-drive-turntable/

Yogi
I had read on audiokarma that the plinth was crappy but could be braced and mass loaded to increase performance substantially.
But if rest of it is sub standard as well?
I saw both kd550 on eBay but not much info out there on those either.

best-groove, Don't you think the "engine and electronics" ARE the DNA of any turntable, including the DP80?  IMO, the major deficiency of the original product was exactly its plinth (and tonearm, but that's a different argument).  By re-doing the substructure from A to Z, Peter has transformed the guts of the DP80 into a true high end product. Which sadly is out of reach of the OP's budget.  If you're just objecting to the cost of the re-done DP80, that's too bad.  I'd love to have one of the PBN versions, if I were not already more than supplied with turntables.
But as to the notion that one could not find an original DP80 for $1000 or less, I am a little dubious.  A few years ago, when I thought about selling my completely "done" sample, I got little interest at around $1200, indicating that the market could not bear that price.  With patience and a little luck, I think it could be done.  If the OP wants a tonearm too for his price limit, then all bets are off.

The original DP-80 plinth is pretty decent, it does not looks like a cheap plinth from that era, the finishing is nice, the color is nice. Much better than any Victor stock plinth for example (imo). Adding AT-616 pneumatic footers is a must for such high quality machine. No questions that DP-80 is a nice DD turntable, but i just want to say that stock plinth is also very nice (if the condition is NOS like mine). Here is an image from the manual with DA-401 tonearm, i was shocked how good this arm can reproduce music on my Luxman with Grado XTZ. Quickly became my favorite tonearm for high-ish compliance MI/MM carts. The only problem is a price tag: with some nice tonearm on original plinth it can be $2-3k easily for complete Denon turntable in perfect condition. 

best-groove, Don't you think the "engine and electronics" ARE the DNA of any turntable, including the DP80?

Surely, but in this way it completely distorts what the Denon wanted to convey to the supporters of the brand.
I do not doubt that the new project is better than the Denon project of 40 years ago, but the price to pay would be high and a likely resale so heavily modified could be long and difficult in finding a new owner or switching to a second hand.