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Yet another turntable recommendation question

Hello all,
Longtime reader of the forums, but I rarely post. As a relative noob, I have learned much from reading your conversations, so thank you.
I am currently looking to upgrade my turntable situation from my old plastic Technics and Onkyo hand-me-downs.
Budget would be stretched at $600-ish.
Features I like...
- removable headshell, or at least a way to easily change carts and related tonearm adjustments
- speed stability!! (as a musician, pitch instability drives me absolutely insane)- some prospect of upgrading over time (tonearm, platter, sub-platter, wiring, etc.)
- belt drive- good (dare I say great?) sound quality- Auto shut off would be very nice

I don't want bells and whistles like built-in phono stage and USB nonsense. Simple is good.

I have considered buying used (Thorens, Dual) and haven't necessarily ruled it out, but I don't want a project, and I darn sure don't want to inherit someone else's problems. Warranties are kind of awesome.
The rest of my system is...
Schitt Mani, Jolida JD1501BRC, Wharfedale Diamond 10.7, Audioquest, BlueJeans, and Morrow cabling.
Mid-fi, I suppose, but I think it sounds great for the price, and I have no immediate plans to change any of that.
I listen to everything from classical to hard rock to jazz to ambient drone.
So far I have looked at Music Hall, Fluance, Denon, Rega, Pro-Ject, but all are compromised in some way.
Are there any others I should be factoring in to the equation?Or any I should steer clear of?
Thanks for any advice and cheers!

earworm22
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
The OP can get a Pioneer PLX1000 for $700 and add a $500 Grado Sonata to it. Excellent sound quality - I have this combination!
earworm22 OP
22 posts
 
Ok, thanks for your input, people. I fully realize that compromises are a forgone conclusion at my budget level. I don’t expect miracles, I was just looking for some possibilities that I had not yet considered, and to avoid as many mistakes as possible. VPI used might be a possibility. It checks a lot of boxes.
i will look into the pioneer, thanks again. 
audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,018 posts
 
I love my vintage lenco l90 belt drive with pitch/speed contol, cool amber strobe, auto stop/lift feature, and, you guessed it, a removable headshell. In fact I got 2. Right now running the discontinued shure m97xe cartridge with brush down and man it sounds good. Bought turntable on ebay a year ago for 299 and it is in near mint condition. It’s not my go to turntable, but man it’s a blast.

The OP, at his budget of 600, should maybe consider the new pro-ject T1 turntable only $329 (leaves room for either a decent phono stage or cartridge upgrade) , or stretch the budget and go for the pro-ject X1 at $899. Read Michael Femer’s review of the X1, he seemed to like it very much so. Pro-ject is killing it with these new series of turntables, which also includes the X2 and the classic Evo.
spininvinyl
6 posts
 
I agree with roberjerman on the Pioneer PLX-1000.  I've had mine for over 2 years now and is currently what I consider my best sounding turntable.  I also have two Rega turntables and a near mint, never gigged Technics SL-1200.  My Rega P-3 should be the best sounding, but it's not.  The removable head shell, with pre-mounted cartridges on spare headshells makes changing cartridges a breeze on the Pioneer and Technics.  For fear of damaging the cartridge or the delicate cartridge cables on the Rega, I'm usually sweating bullets when I'm finished.  The PLX-1000 is my quietest deck due to the extra insulation in the base and inside the tone arm.  It's one of the better made Hanpin clones of the SL-1000 Technics.  I paid $699 for mine, but they're currently down to $599 on Amazon.  If you can swing a few $$$ for a cartridge, I recommend the Hana SL Shibata tipped cartridge.  It sounds as good as it gets to me, so much so that I have two of them!  Happy gear searching!     
cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
For an extra 100 or so, try Audio Techica ATLP7, a fully manual belt drive at an excellent price point.
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