08-10-07: PiedpiperAnd that's what you get with the Technics platform and the Rega-sourced arm. You can buy both new rather than used, but in both cases economy of scale gives you more performance for the money spent.
Thanks for restating Metalsymph. Good question, and not easily answered. There has definitely been some evolution in TT design but economy of scale and inflation make it a complex question with no definitive answer IMHO.
This is a $400 platform with noise and speed accuracy figures of a $2K-$3K platform combined with the only sub-$1K tonearm (or an assembly-line cousin) in S'phile Class B.
You really can get both plus the Denon DL-160 for $1K or a little less.