basis 1400 belt & cartridge

When you can afford it, spring for the Basis belt. Their newest belts are extremely precisely ground to an even thickness and sound much better than their old belts. I doubt that a non OEM belt would come close. Two different friends heard both an upgrade to the belt and the installation of the $5,000 motor control unit, I believe on a Basis 2500, and actually thought the belt made a more substantial difference.

Although the 1400 is the cheapest model in the lineup, the critical parts are actually manufactured to extremely close tolerances, like all Basis turntables. The benefits of a similarly manufactured belt will be heard on this table.

I have not heard the Bottlehead tube unit, but, it has a good reputation. It is a little outside of your price range ($369) and it is a kit that requires assembly, but, I saw and heard a Bottlehead amplifier that came from a kit and it should not be that hard to build even if you don't have experience. Go to:

http://www.bottlehead.com/store.php?crn=220&rn=429&action=show_detail

Pro-ject also makes some low cost phono stages, such as their Phono Box II ($159) and Phono Box SEII ($329). Two friends actually heard the Phono Box II in comparison with Pro-ject's much more expensive tube phonostage and both much preferred the cheaper, solid state unit. I believe Music Hall makes a low cost unit as well. I haven't heard any of these units myself.