New TT for around 2000--- need some advice

my aries is on a salamander rack on a wooden floor in a fairly small room. I did need some isolation (desperately) back when I had a p25, but only when I moved up in cartridges from a grado master (around 4.5mV I think) to a grado statement at .5mV. The higher end cart on the planar required the isolation but when I installed the Aries it was not at all as essential (maybe due to the weight of the aires with it's motor.) I could hear SOME improvement when I put the isolation back in to test things, so I do still use it.
btw-
I'm using 2 small bicycle inner tubes to isolate. 1st I tried them under a piece of medium density fibreboard ("mdf") as recommended by some folks; i.e. the tubes on the top salamander shelf, the mdf on the tubes, the tt on the mdf. I didn't like the sound so I replaced the mdf board with an extra salamander shelf I had (a much harder platform then the mdf), and voila! This worked better than some expensive iso platforms I had auditioned; and being barely visible it's way nicer looking.

Interesting info about supports. I bought the Salamder Synergy for the looks not really the isolation properties it may or may nothave. I was thinkin of going the Marble slab/mdf/granite on top of Vibrapods/inner tube route. I'll see though.

I hope Mr. Vu is in when I do stop by Deja Vu as he does sell Nottingham turntables and I really would like to hear one. Does anyone have a rec for a cart to use on say a Aries or Spacedeck? My dealer recs Grado or Bez Glider for the VPI...Looking to spend about $800 new...maybe a phono stage woudl be a better place to spend money though??
Anyways back to work, have to pay for this stuff somehow :o)
-Vik

Depending on the arm,the Eurolab distributed by Audio Advancements/Hart was given a Golden Ear Award in 2001 TAS.It was recommended to me by an audio dealer I previously worked for-no profit for him!Call Hart at 973-875-8705 and forget about PLCs and SDS.Both need recalibration after you shut them down-personal experience.Instead,try Walker Motor controller as an after market upgrade.Good luck! Tom

Vikvilkhu, what phono stage do you have now?

A Black cube with the upgraded power supply. Heard the Arieds the other dau and was amazed at the tonality of the table. However IO think it may have been a bit neutral for my tastes...I prefer a warmer richer sound and althouhg the Aries was never bright is was a little thin in some frequencies, for my tastes. This may have been because of the Glider 2 cart though. Just as a reference the demo was using the phono stage in a McIntosh integrated. Next on my list is the Spacedeck!

I am also thinking of upgrading my P25 as a an alternative to buuying a whole new table. After hearing the Aries I felt that it was certainly better than my table but I love the full dynamics of my Rega at whatever volume level my pre is at. For the money I KNOW I made the right choice, now diminsihing returns are definitely kicking in.
Happy listening!
-Vik