Best table in $1500 range

Joe has spoken! Totally forgot the sale page, so shame on me indeed! (Do I have to send mine back?) ;-)

Toddwj,
Run, don't walk, to the Teres website.

Toddwj,
I like Teres as much as anyone (I own one) but they are clearly above your present budget.

The biggest problem with the Scout is that the motor is known for poor speed stability. Many owners have either added VPI's SDS unit ($500ish) or replaced the VPI motor with one from Teres ($525) or Origin Live ($550). All who've done so report dramatically improved musical results.

I'd look at a Nottingham Horizon with the RB250 arm. That combo is usually sold for about $1200. I've never heard anyone report a speed control issue with a Nott'. In fact, one Scout owner reported that both his buddy's Nott' motor and a Teres motor improved his Scout, while the Teres motor made no improvement on his friend's Nott'.

A used Nott' Spacedeck with Spacearm would stomp any of the above BTW. If you're willing to consider used that would be a hugely satisfying first (and maybe last) vinyl rig, and buying used is an excellent way to avoid the depreciation hit.

Good luck and enjoy the tunes whatever you choose.

I've lived with an OL Silver (highly modded RB250) for nearly a year now. It's mounted on a table and cartridge that are really much too good for it, yet it's held its own fairly well. I think Gthirteen characterized it nicely.

A Rega is not the best arm in the world, but neither is a JMW-9. They have quite a different mix of strengths and weaknesses, so they probably work and sound quite different too. The JMW's antiskate "adjustment" is one of HW's better jokes, but adjusting VTA on a Rega with most of the aftermarket collars is even worse (Pete Riggle's VTAF and the Teres adjuster solve that however). Of course there's no decent VTA adjustment on the JMW-9 either. Sigh...

If fit and polish are the deciding factos the JMW wins hands down. Just make sure you stick with medium compliance cartridges. If you like the sound of lower compliance cartridges like Denons, Shelters and Koetsu's, I'd follow Twl's theory and go for a Rega. I've heard my 901 on unipivots that are well above a JMW-9, and they don't cut it.

Choices, choices...