Best turntable for the buck

mr_putty,

Thanks for the input. I’m seriously interested in the Prime.  My local dealer has it and is willing to set it up for me, I’m NOT a DIY person.  I’m happy to hear you like it so well.  I just hope it will be a significant upgrade from what I have now. 
‘My cartridge is fairly high end, costing four figures and my phono preamp is a Conrad-Johnson. I do have a cleaning machine for my 2000+ records.

@rvpiano FWIW I agree with some of the opinions here about the investment required to get analogue exceeding the SQ of digital. I have $10K into my analogue front end vs. a $600 streamer + $19.99 mth for Tidal. The delta is crazy but worth it for me. 

My only suggestion is that once you have a solid foundation (table, arm, isolation base) consider upgrading your cart; A good TT can support great cart. I'm using the $1200 Hana ML (LO) atm and budgeting $4K-ish for it's replacement when the time comes. 

$4000 gets you the 1200G with a great arm, easy setup and a turntable that won’t fail you. A turntable needs to spin without variance, thats it. Collect a few carts and make sure your phono pre is up to par. My system thrives on simplicity. Check it out here. 24 vintage carts.

OP,

I can definitely recommend VPI turntables. I owned one for over twenty years… great value and performance.

@rvpiano i was in similar situation, as I have been attempting to assemble an ‘end game’ system for retirement. I had upgraded digital side (Bluesound Vault 2i and Marantz SA-KI Ruby), and turned to analog side. I have about 3000 LPs (though could trim in half without losing much I value).

I actually have about your $4k in the rig itself … had a NOS VPI Classic 1 I’d not yet unboxed (long story), and added a SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC Star. Came from a Denon DP1200 and Grado F3+ w/8MZ stylus, and I’m very happy with the upgrade. Phono stage (Lehmann Black Cube SE) more than competent but the weak link, and may add SoundSmith’s phono pre before calling it done.