Every day I see another turntable recommendation...

I am so old I am happy to invest in a state-of-the-art-in-my-childhood equipment, so I am at $600 all-in (Dual 1019 fully automatic German idler-drive turntable, Shure M55e AND Shure m97xe AND Shure V15 Type IV cartridge NOS in radio shack livery but state of the art nonetheless for its day and not-much-exceeded by today's equipment.)  Essentially I have three Shure V15 cartridges to run my turntable which changes out headshells in seconds (which these days are 3D printed on EBay.)   You may scoff but the Dual 1019 was THE dominant turntable for half a decade back in the day.

Just thinking out loud, the turntable & tone arm & cartridge were less than 1/3rd of my original investment; the $200 used 1019 turntable from local craigslist (United Audio base; Shure m55e cartridge) was just the start of the adventure.  There were many extras to get: (a) Two additional $30 headshells from ebay (my son broke the original headshell not understanding the tone-arm lockdown), (b) $30 Vintage Discwasher, (c) Washing fluid (d) $22 The unusual Dual "waiter's arm" record changer spindle, (e) $10 Dual-branded 1019 45rpm adapter (f) $20 Original Dual owner's manual, (g) $40 radio-shack smoke colored dust cover (there was no oem cover available for the UA plinth), (h) $15 Dual aluminum reproduction logo to dress up the dust cover (h) $10 extra smoke plexiglass from ebay to fine-tune the fit of the dust cover, (i) $65 TEC TC-778 phonepreamp incl. support for 78pm (the turntable does 16, 33, 45, and 78 rpm), (j) $200 for 2 more shure V15-era cartridges both at bargain prices, (k) $60 two more 3x7 elliptical M55e replacement styluses out of paranoia that mine would break or wear out and the m55e would have no stylus.  So about $535 of extras, total.  There is a great comfort in buying a best-seller from the past because parts and accessories (some of them being newly manufactured by home enthusiasts) are readily available.

If you want quality you virtually have to consider used gear.  This is especially true for tape decks ; NO quality tape decks being made anymore.  There is perhaps a resurgence in quality turntables but they cost twice as much as they should be costing.  High quality workhorse super durable turntable from the '60s '70s and '80s should be $1,000 to $2,500 in today's prices.  $5,000 is beyond what you could pay back then.  This is why I don't think that new gear is generally any good.  There is gear from the past that will still be working when every turntable made today has worn out and broken down!  Today's gear is either rubbish or 2x what it should cost,.  I'd take a best-selling turntable from the 80th percentile of the market from 1980-1990 over anything sold today.  When you are going to make 10 million turntables a year you can make a much higher quality product than when you are going to make 10,000.