Hello,
I like the Hana ML for you. It’s semi warm and somewhat forgiving. If you want a little more detail take the VTF/ weight below 2 g. Maybe 1.9 g.
Music Direct has it for less than $1k. I would skip the Ortofon carts with the Shibata stylus unless you are going to pay a few hundred to have it setup properly. Shibata styli can be difficult to setup by eye.
I like Sota a lot but it might pull too much from your budget. So maybe a used technics 1200 variant for $1k- $2k. I like the idea for you that you can switch cartridges/ headshells as needed. Last but not least is demo phono stages if you can. The Herron is really nice if you can find it. Get new tubes if you can. I like the Idea of the MOFI deck because it usually goes on sale and you can pick it up at Music Direct with the cart. The most important thing is setup. I would tell you J.R. From Wally tools but it will blow your budget. Brian Walsh travels to several states and lives in the Chicagoland area. If those two do not work and you buy the cart and tt from MD then have Bess from MD set it up using Analog Magic. Two more phono stages to look at are the a used Pass labs 17 dice you have pass or the Hegel V10. They are both very good. Don’t be fooled by the Hegels size and wall plug in. It is a transformer not a switch mode. It is balanced too. I believe 72db of gain. I have one on my system along with a Hana cart. I hope this helps.
Table,cartridge,phono...where to put most of my money?
Let me start by saying im a digital guy,to be specific a CD/SACD guy.Years ago I ventured back into vinyl only to be totally disappointed in my efforts.I wanted to hear the records I had been hauling around the country every time i relocated.I bought a Linn LP12 and had all the upgrades done.I never could get it sounding good,even paid to have it setup by a so called expert...Fast forward ,I tried again maybe 6 years ago.Bought a VPI super scout with a couple different phono stages(dont recall what they were)..About the same outcome,was ok but for all the fuss,time,cost I felt another unsuccessful attempt..A few weeks ago i bought at an auction a direct drive Pioneer table from the 70s for a couple hundred.It was paired with a decent cartridge.I bought a used phone amp off ebay and off and rolling i went.Its no where near my digital side across the board and i didnt expect it to be but its got me wanting more....Long story short,I have a budget of 5k/6k for everything..table,cartridge and phone amp..Yes i understand everything is important but where would you put the bulk of the budget...and what would you buy with the limited info given,,Thanks