I have a great turntable guru who has guided me through several of the turntables I've owned, the most recent being the holy grail Garrard 401 and then a pimped out Lenco 75. I'm moving next to a direct drive turntable (the Technics Sp-10 MK2 mostly for a simpler setup) but one of the tables that's pretty much in that league is your Denon DP-51. I think your tonearm idea is wise, and my only suggestion would be to consider the Denon DL-103R moving coil cartridge, which is not just a classic but one of the best values around. I used to own the Clearaudio Maestro and one of the Grado Reference cartridges (these are both in the $1,300 - $1,500 range.). In my experience, the MC world is another league and my DL-103R at $500 compares favorably with my $5,600 Dynavector XV-1s. Food for thought.
What would you do?
I just bought a Denon dp-57l turntable in really , really nice condition for what I feel was quite a bargain ($250). It functions perfectly, gorgeous rose wood veneer, scuff marks on the dust cover which can be buffed out with lens restorer. Even though it functions perfectly, it is 43 years old and has never been recapped. A recapping can cost up to $700. It also came with an Ortofon Red cartridge not worthy of this quality of table and I'd say needs at least a Bronze. So my question is:
Given the initial $250, plus $700 for a recap, plus let's say $500 for a good mm cartridge, we're looking at $1450 give or take a couple hundred if recapping isn't that much. Is this beautiful table worth it quality and sound wise to put that into it, or would a comparably priced new table beat it in sound quality? Looking for those with a similar Denon who've recapped theirs and have a quality cartridge to voice their experienced opinions. I'm putting it in a system that has Belles integrated, but I'll be using my BAT phono pre.