What's a good beginner turntable at $2500+- range?

Just buy a modded KAB USA SL-1200mkII. The money saved can get you a sweet cartridge, a nice record cleaning machine and a decent phono preamp. Trust us who own these Technics SL-1200MMII (modded or not) tables you wont be disappointed if you are spending less that $2500 on just a table. Yes there are other good turntables choices but for $2500 you can get a lot for your money by what I noted here. If you turn not to like the SL-1200MKII it will sell on eBay without much depreciation.

HTH.

2500 is a very healthy budget.
Get a Sota with factory installed arm (less tweaking) and spend a nice buck on a cartridge. My Jewel is now running a Clearaudio Aurum Beta S and is quite happy.
You can do better for $2500.

Need a VPI 19 mkiii?

I vote for the Pro-ject RM10. Also consider the Clearaudio and VPI. IMHO, the Technics is not as resolving as any of these.

Dave

I was recently in your position. I opted for a Rega P9 w/ the RB900 arm, which I picked up here for $1200. I've mounted a Denon 103 M/C (which I got from a German seller on eBay for a couple of hundred dollars). I feed this to my LSA Signature though a Minimax phono pre, which I picked up here for $950. So, I spent about your budget, and I have soul ravishing vinyl. The Rega is unfussy to set up. The Denon 103 is a classic, fine cartridge, and the Minimax is wonderful and fun to roll tubes through. I did a *ton* of research before I bought all of this stuff, and I'm very happy with it. I listen primarily to small ensemble classical and jazz. I quoted the prices, which may or may not be good deals, to give some sense of real-world prices.

Cheers!

Chandos

You should look into Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S... it's about $300 over the $2500, but it's a special table.