@saulh, I confess at the outset that I haven't read through this entire thread. However, as some have suggested, going "all in" on a TT set-up can mean many things. Focusing only on TT, arm & cart is, IMHO, rather myopic. There are definitely other necessary accoutrements for achieving the "best" sonic results possible in whatever budget target you set. Respectfully, I suggest adding a good record cleaning machine or system to your list of usual suspects, in addition to a good phono pre-amp. Clean records (i.e. not only clean-looking but actually clean, down to the grooves) are indispensable to achieving the best sonic fidelity with any good quality equipment you choose. If you want ease & convenience in the record cleaning department, have a look at the Degritter. If you don't mind a more labor-intensive approach, you can achieve the same or better results with a lash-up system at half the cost. Regardless, CLEAN records will be indispensable to great vinyl fidelity. BTW: even brand-new records should be cleaned before their first play. There will also be other things you'll need, as well (e.g. record camp or weight; stylus cleaner; LAST record preservative; etc.). Up for a little heavy reading and a hell of an education on the care & feeding of vinyl LP's? Check out "Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records" by Neil Antin on The Vinyl Press. Also, you might want to hang out at Analog Planet for a while and get to know Michael Fremer. All the Best!
Every day I see another turntable recommendation...
After digging into this topic, I am convinced now I need to go a bit higher on this first vinyl set up. I think all in, I am prepared at this point to go up to $5k, for the table alone, not including arm or cartridge.
But frankly, being on this forum is like drinking from an information firehose. I have learned a bunch and yet somehow, I am less convicted than before.
With that in mind, to narrow down the decision, I am want to restrict myself to things I can buy, hear and, if necessary, service locally. My local dealers stock, AMG, AVM, Basis, Clearaudio, Michell, Musichall, Pro-ject, Rega, VPI, so I am likely restricted to those brands. I am certain my view will change by the end of this thread.