Best turntable for the buck

rvpiano-

demo of the VPI is the only way to determine if it might work for your ears. 

I'm just a long term Classic user. It certainly has its shortcomings-arm/speed consistency. Trying to optimize setup and a fresh belt keep those 2 in check. Phonostage/cart make up for the deficits.

That said, it easily makes forgetting there are plenty of other choices that are in the same price range, but those will have their own set of deficits.

That makes considering used of something more $ubstancial for 1/2 of new MSRP appealing, IF you want to put in the effort to find those units.

The Prime is a decent table,particularly used. Knowing what I do now, I'd find one for real cheap and invest in the Phoenix/Sota speed control. That would be near your $Threshold.  Aries pop up, now and then at reasonable prices too.

As mentioned in my earlier post, Rega P8 or used P10 with Apheta(may be above your threshold)will allow you to escape turntable insanity and just enjoy the LP experience once again.

High performance turntable use is like playing with  a high end sports car or Hot Rod. Only limited by your wallet.

  VPI and Rega(P8/10) will get you to the subjective acceptable level.

mr_putty mentions platter  maintenance- a year or 2 wipe and dab of fresh lube is all that's needed. Less than 5 minute procedure.

The Rega P8 is more than acceptable.

It's one of the very best decks I've ever heard. It handles surface noise extremely well.

To get an even more expansive sound than that might mean a trip into vinyl insanity.

+1 @cd318 & @tablejockey 

I've thought about where a next step could be from my P8 and the thought of the tonearm matching issues and probably spending double the cost of the P8 to get something better and getting local support for that exact model would be a challenge. One of my main philosophies - KISS - maybe not applicable to many of the forum contributors here, but it's worked well for me over the years.

​​​​​​​Like I said, I've found the isolation improvements worth more than a turntable/arm upgrade of a step or two. BTW, I use a VDH MC One Special and I find it clean and detailed, a good match for the P8 from a weight standpoint as well.

@knollbrent that is an impressive set of TTs.

My dealer refuses to let me try out a new turntable with my Clearaudio cartridge in my system. I can’t say that I blame him (it would be a lot of work) but it’s a deal breaker for me. I don’t want to be stuck with a turntable the equivalent of mine. My very upgraded Rega tonally really sounds great. My problem is that It does not do the job of separating the instruments with space around them the way my digital system does. Maybe it’s too much to expect that the relatively inexpensive VPI will do that any better. As someone previously mentioned 4K is  unrealistic. So, I may have to be satisfied with my very rich and smooth sounding analog side without the soundstaging.