If you want good DD under $1000, would you considered vintage?
I was in the same situation. I wanted a better table and didn’t have the budget to go right for a new Technics, so I found a restored one on ebay and have been very happy with it so far.
You might check out a seller called TurntableTom. He restores a lot of older Technics tables and usually charges $250-450. That leaves plenty of money for a nice budget cart like an AT microline or even something like a KAB Ortofon concorde OM30. Something to consider...
I was in the same situation. I wanted a better table and didn’t have the budget to go right for a new Technics, so I found a restored one on ebay and have been very happy with it so far.
You might check out a seller called TurntableTom. He restores a lot of older Technics tables and usually charges $250-450. That leaves plenty of money for a nice budget cart like an AT microline or even something like a KAB Ortofon concorde OM30. Something to consider...