Looking for ACCURATE SPEED turntable/tonearm combo

With the quality of many used records today I won't be spending $5,000 on an analog rig.

I have over 2000 used LPs and I have no idea what you mean here. Yes, even from Sleaze-Bay. There are the occasional trashed LPs in the used bins. However, my experience has been that for every one of those "ain't never gonna' play" you will find a dozen or two that clean up and play beautifully. And you can't always tell from surface scratches how the LP will play. Cleaning techniques. That is the key.

This brings up another issue that Doug mentioned and that Tube540 may not be aware of. Many of these lower priced, post-entry level tables will also magnify the sound of less-than-pristine grooves. As Doug said, you have a choice of compromises with budget tables. You may find that you are sensitive to more than just speed stability. IMO, all of the budget tables are either overly bright: to make you think you're hearing everything in the grooves, or they are too dark: to make sure you do not hear all of the resonance issues.

I suggest to you to get out and try to listen to as many tables as you can, if you haven't done this already. Especially that Rega you mentioned. With or without the TTPSU.

If it were me and if I was sure I would not increase my budget in the future, I would seriously consider spending money on a re-plinth Lenco project before dropping any money on any table in your budget range. You can either do the work yourself or ask around for someone to build one for you. I have a Lenco in storage but you can't have it. ;-)

If you want solid accuracy in a belt drive a Rega P5 or even a P3-24 with the added PSU will fit the bill and have an arm good enough for any cartridge up to nose bleed territory.

Ketchup,

I think a visualization of strobe is much too crude an instrument to detect transient speed variations caused by modulations in stylus drag. However, it's not too difficult to hear an obvious difference if your belt drive TT allows switching between different belt materials & tensions.

I have an Oracle Delphi III that I compare to a VPI TNT with soft belts and thread drive on this point. The VPI has a flywheel which VPI claims is equivalent in effect to a 100 lb. platter. However the combination of flywheel and soft rubber belts does not equal a relatively inelastic tread sans flywheel in terms of focus, dynamics, and LF control. In this case, the theory that the inertial mass of a flywheel improves stability is compromised by the practice of using a sloppy rubber belt to drive the flywheel. Doubtless a massive platter is better. But even in this case physics prescribes that small forces introduced by changes in stylus drag into the large inertial mass, must manifest as a change in platter speed. The only way to hear this taking place is to control all variables except for belt material and tension. With the Oracle the situation is further complicated by lateral movement in the suspension of the lightly sprung plinth.

Im with jb53 here, if you dont care for a technics the denon is a great choice. You wont beat the japanese direct drives for speed accuracy no matter how much you spend. I own (owned) a stable of high end tts and have compared them directly to my sl 1700 I got off ebay for $49. Lets just say that even though I covet my big boys I can listen to the technics for hours and not miss them. I chucked a stradivari on the 1700's stock arm and was blown away with how good it sounded, and it lifts the arm at the end of play! I have considered selling everything else and keeping the technics. Spend your dough on a great cartridge and phono pre mabey some fancy cables and feel good falling asleep to great sound knowing your rig will put itself to bed at the end of the side.

Rccc and the others are right. Buy the Rega P5, but don't come back to complain when you see strobe drift.

Like others here, I have dropped 7K and more on a high end LP play back units. They sounded good; looked ultra sexy, but the KAB blew them out of the water on speed accuracy. and if you opt for the cardas rewire and KAB dampener, the Technics gets really close to the sonics of the high end tables, and you get the rock solid speed.

While some Analog folks prefer the maple block, I'd suggest heading down to your local Granite counter top guy and have him cut you a custom piece of granite for your Table stand. Will cost you 125-150 bucks, with cutting and polished edges and will make a major improvement.