Which belt-driven table to play Rock vinyl?


YATTANT - Yet Another Turntable Adviced Needed Thread!

Ok,

I'm ready to take the plunge and get my first high end table. I'll start auditioning tables next month and I'm putting together the "hit list" now. I'm looking for a belt-driven, high mass turntable for playing about 99% Rock music ( 1960s - today, but mostly 1970s/1990s).

Things I don't want:
  • an overly "fiddly" table ala VPI or the Schiit Sol
  • a factory packaged table/arm (and sometimes cartridge too) combo.

Brands I'm NOT interested in*:
EAT / MusicHall / Project / Rega / Techniques / VPI

Things I want/need in a table
  • Accurate 33 1/3 & 45 rpm platter speeds. Fine adjustments a plus.
  • Reliable and built to last
  • Table must be made within the last 5 years by a company that's still open and servicing customers.
  • Low maintenance after a professional setup
  • Low background noise - I like to make vinyl rips
  • Wide/3D Natural soundstage that's realistic and musical.
  • A wee bit of drive/PRAT would be ok as well. Not too much.
  • Ideally flat response ( no EQ tweaking gimmicks, etc) and little to no coloration by the table/arm/cartidge
  • Detailed but not sterile/clinical. I want detail retrieval, but being a tad forgiving on less well mastered LP's would be a plus.

Budget... Mentally I pieced this together
  • around $1500 for a tonearm ( I had Audiomods series 6 / Jelco 850 in mind based on descriptions alone )
  • around $750 for a cartridge ( I'm eyeballing the Nagaoka MP 500 based on descriptions alone )
  • around $3000 for the table

So that's a bit over $5k. I figure I could get a nice setup for that price. I am interested in new gear or, ideally, dealer demos of recent/current models to stretch a bit higher. Please toss me your suggestions.

Last thing: If it helps.. These brands seemed interesting in my googling around the net*:
Acoustic Signature / Clear Audio / Feickert Analog / Gold Note / JA Michell / Nottingham Analog / Origin Live / Scheu Analog / Sota
( Other brands meeting my criteria are welcome )


* brands listed alphabetically before someone asks

PS Let's hope I got all of those terms correct.

bigslacker
I have a fully modded Acoustic Signiture Final Tool. The new motors dramatically lowered the motor noise. The new platter with 24 brass/rubber silencers cleared up the midrange. Finally a 4 inch block of maple gave it a more precise towards a little mello. I will keep it for life
Consider the Kuzma Stabi S, with a Stogi Arm, and their Kuzma 20 or 30 cartridge - extremely solid, design has held up for quite some time. 
Liquid HiFi in South Carolina is a solid dealer option or I think there is a fairly new one listed 

you will be under $5K all in, and put it on an Adona (out of Florida) platform for about $150.00
I agree that the brand or type of turntable is unrelated to the genre. 
Why does the OP think VPI turntables are fiddly? I have a Scout ll and it’s not at all temperamental or hard to deal with. 
I have the Gold Note Mediterraneo table with the G.N. ph/psu 10's and love it, and I listen to alot of classic rock 60/70 early 80's. I will be upgrading to the bigger B7 tonearm in the spring.

The Pianosa and Gigilo are in your price range, even the 425 Valore Plus is a decent priced table. 
The Technics is a lot of turntable for the money but I'll agree with effischer on this one. The SOTA has one big advantage over all the other turntables out there except the SME, Basis and Air Force turntables and that is a perfectly tuned suspension system that isolates the platter, tonearm and cartridge from just about anything. With the new magnetic bearing, motor and speed controller it is very hard to beat at any price.
SOTA will mount a Jelco arm for you which will handle any mid to low compliance cartridge, the vast majority of them out there.