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

"I had a SOTA Cosmos mk3, even upgraded it (paid $900) to have it upgraded to mk4 status. A brand new Cosmos mk4 cannot play a record at a consistent speed when compared to a vintage $300 direct drive Luxman PD-264."
Ive owned several Sotas and they have all had rock solid speed stability and can go toe to toe with just about anything out there at any price (Ive tried most of them) I wouldnt be without one. I also have a Technics 1200 and 1301 which are fantastic tables but not even close to a Sota vacuum table.

The Technics is a great table for the money and certainly "no fuss no muss" but to say that it across the board beats tables at that budget used is not consistent with my experience to say the least. You've got a lot of choices at that price used, from Basis, Clearaudio, SOTA, VPI, Rega, Kuzma, etc.. Also you can do better for that money than a Rega RB300 arm.

Thank you Rccc........thats exaclty what I was saying, no tricked out Technics is going to beat a SOTA period.

The Technics is a cute table and a high value product.

However, the arm is extraordinarily ordinary and overall the package does not compete with the SOTA, Basis, Acoustic Solid, Nottingham etc. tables priced at the $2500 level.

It is in the Music Hall, Project, Rega, league.

Good luck.

05-07-08: Audiofeil
The Technics is a cute table and a high value product.

However, the arm is extraordinarily ordinary and overall the package does not compete with the SOTA, Basis, Acoustic Solid, Nottingham etc. tables priced at the $2500 level.

It is in the Music Hall, Project, Rega, league.

Where do Clearaudio and VPI sort out?

Oh, BTW, wouldn't a Michell Gyro SE fall right into the price/performance category the original poster is looking for? I'd look really hard at that, or a Funk with fully modded OL-1 or Silver tonearm.