Hi Dan,
Have you considered the SOTA's? With a little patience you can most likely pick up one of their better models, in used excellent condition with arm, for well within your budget.
I have used an early SOTA Sapphire, with Magnepan Unitrac unipivot tonearm, since I purchased it new in 1983. It still looks and works like new. It is so well suspended that I can literally pound my fist on the plinth with moderate force while a record is playing, with no audible effect whatsoever. And its looks are very classy, with an oak finish and dovetailed corners.
The only downside I can report, which may not be true of more recent versions, is that on slow sustained piano notes I believe I can hear a very slight wow and flutter, due presumably to its use of a servo motor.
Best regards,
-- Al
Have you considered the SOTA's? With a little patience you can most likely pick up one of their better models, in used excellent condition with arm, for well within your budget.
I have used an early SOTA Sapphire, with Magnepan Unitrac unipivot tonearm, since I purchased it new in 1983. It still looks and works like new. It is so well suspended that I can literally pound my fist on the plinth with moderate force while a record is playing, with no audible effect whatsoever. And its looks are very classy, with an oak finish and dovetailed corners.
The only downside I can report, which may not be true of more recent versions, is that on slow sustained piano notes I believe I can hear a very slight wow and flutter, due presumably to its use of a servo motor.
Best regards,
-- Al