Turntable setup under $2000?

You could get a Well Tempered Simplex with a Denon 103R for $2300 and I'm confident it would trounce those other tables you tried. People give me grief for it, but when I had my fully tricked out Rega P5 "harsh" is exactly how I described it. It's just not a good sounding table and has very poor build quality and materials. I much preferred my Pro-Ject Xperience Classic to the P5.

Thanks for help,guys, very much appreciated.
And as I’m diving deeper into analog, and ready to spend up to 2500 for TT set up, have some more questions:
Pro-Ject RPM9.2 evolution witn Ortofon 2M Black=$600 sounds very, very nice, detailed, open, but still lacks bass in comparison with Music Hall MMF2.2 with Tracker=$100 or Rega RP3 with Elys 2
Pro-Ject RPM5.1 with Ortofon 2M red=$99, sounds as very budget MMF2.2, just louder in high frequencies.
I noticed, that output was different, so I adjusted the volume.

Pro-Ject RPM 9.2 sounds close to Michell Tecnodec with ClearAudio Aurum Beta cart, but more enjoyable personally.
So questions:
1: why budget Tracker or Elys 2 give more powerful and deeper bass than more expensive carts?
2: What TT is the best from: Pro-Ject RPM9.2 Evolution, VPI Scout / JMW or Thorens TD309?
3: Can I use the same cartridges for VPI Scout unipivot JMW tonearm and let say Pro-Ject or Thorenc classic tonearms?

Did you get a chance to audition the Traveler? I have a Traveler/2M Black that sounds quite good, all the bass you could want. I have recently switched to a Blue Point cart to lean out the bass a little. Perhaps the bass situation is the product of other parts of your system. At this price point you are not going to get nirvana, compromise is inevitable. Get a table that stirs you with your favorite albums.

Check out the Music Hall MMF 7.1 without cartridge. Put an Ortofon 2M Black cartridge on it. Get a good phono cable. I got the Morrow PH4. Dead silence, and very nice details. Bass is very nice and tight, as long as it is in the recording. My 2 cents.