Turntable suggestions?

I'd get a used REK-O-KUT (they're cheap and built like tanks)and buy lps with the extra money. Laughable how good they are compared to high end tables. I sold my LINN & my Rega3 once I realized what are waste of money & time they are compared to the old REK-O-KUTs. I've been there & I got over it fast once it heard the REK-O-KUT. But if you have to have an expensive tweaky table I understand. I just can't recommend one. Have fun!

I'm curious how your Dual would sound in your system, but you'd have to get a phono stage to play it. For $2500 total, I'd suggest a Well Tempered Classic table (comes with its own arm), maybe an Audio Research PH-3 phono stage (should work well with the Ref 2 line stage). Other tables I've heard that sound fine are the Mitchell Orbe and the Music Hall MMF7, but the Well-Tempered is the one that got me back into analog, a very easy to use and musical piece of equipment. Your equipment is very good, it will show up any shortcomings upstream, but vinyl is so good you probably won't care.

I was in the same situation with over 1000 LP's. I got a tremendous amount of advice and finally settled on the following:

Michell Gyro SE II:
http://www.michell-engineering.co.uk/tur1.html#gyrose

Origin Live RB250:
http://www.tonearm.co.uk/index.htm

Aragon 47k w/IPS:
http://www.klipsch.com/mondial/index2.asp?path=/products/mondial/index.asp?frame=y&id=&line=&1

Koetsu Redwood

I consider the table and arm a STEAL at full list price. The 47k can be found used very cheap. As for cart, well there you need to do some homework. I got the Koetsu as a demo cheap. I hope this is helpful.

I started with a Basis 1400 and Origin Live Modified RB250 (within your price range). As I could afford it, I upgraded the Basis table and received full retail credit from Basis for the one I traded in. I am now up to the 2500. My next upgrade will probably be to the vacuum 2800. At one point, I sold the RB250 for almost as much as it cost me and upgraded to the Graham 2.2.

The Basis 1400/Origin Live RB250 is really a very good table and you have a clear upgrade path ahead all the way to the DebutV/Graham 2.2 combination, without any loss of your prior investment.

Basis tables are incredibly easy to set up and maintain and every table in their line will bring out the magic in vinyl.

Well, any advice that omits the VPI turntable line is incomplete. Many people think that VPI's products offer excellent value and build quality, and they also have the advantage of being upgradable as your requirements (and budget) increase. You could start with a VPI HW-19 Jr with a Rega RB300 or RB600 arm, and have a great starter system. Then, as time allows, you can upgrade to the HW-19 Mk 3 or Mk 4. The upgrades that I refer to involve improvements in the suspension, platter, and spindle. The HW-19 Mk 4, which uses many of the parts from VPI's higher-priced Aries and TNT turntables, represents one of the best values in high-end turntables. The AudioAdvisor carries VPI turntables, with and without arms, so you could contact them for more info.

The other obvious choices among moderately-priced turntables are the various Rega models, and those made by MusicHall and ProJect.