New turntable

If selecting table and arm separately, I just installed this Technics EPA-250 Tonearm and EPA-B500 Base Combo for a friend, it is as good as everyone says, and it has two wonderful features if you are going for a Single Arm TT:

1. removable headshell, so you can have several mounted, i.e. MM stereo; MC Stereo; Mono. (there is an optional arm/ fixed cartridge version)

2. VTA on the Fly, superb, turn the dial, up/dn while playing: stays where you put it. Change headshell, adjust VTA, adjust tracking/anti-skate: play on!

My friend’s had been unused for a long time, the lifter and anti-skate both were frozen, I had to carefully get them working.

verify with seller: arm lift works properly! anti-skate works properly. OEM Phono Cable (with integral ground pin) included? Not critical, you can and perhaps want to use a different rca/rca phono cable. Then you adapt the ground wire to a bullet pin, same diameter as the rca pin.

Verify you have room for the base, it is a larger diameter than many.

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Here is the fixed cartridge arm A501H on the B500 base

OEM phono included here

@catahula_bill - Nothing wrong with VPI - great turntables.

However take a look at Music Hall MMF11.3 - why?

• Unique quadruple-plinth design wtih sorbothane vibration isolationn
• One-piece Project ‘9cc Evolution’ carbon fiber tonearm
• Arm uses four hardened Swiss ABEC 7 ball races in an inverted bearing design
• Tonearm is internally wired with flexible wire drawn from high purity copper with only two contact points from cartridge to output connectors
• Counterweight’s center of gravity is level with the stylus tip is decoupled from the arm and acts as a resonance damper
• Fully adjustable azimuth, VTA, and dampened arm lift
• Exclusive microprocessor electronic speed controlled dual motor single flywheel drive system
• 33 1⁄3 and 45 rpm speed change at the touch of button
• Motors and flywheel assembly are isolated on mass loaded resonant sink connected to the lower plinth
• the dual motor flywheel system sits on the left side of the turntable thus eliminating all motor and belt vibration from the cartridge
• Magnetic-levitation adjustable isolation feet
• inverted ceramic main bearing for super quiet fluid operation
• thick acrylic platter with a removable acrylic dustcover
• high quality, gold RCA connectors with detachable phono cable
• low noise fully manual belt-drive design, dustcover, 45rpm adaptor
• ships securely in a substantial wood box

It’s well within your budget and there are deals out there (so shop around) and you will have enough for a really great cartridge - maybe a Sound-smith? And a good interconnect cable !

The MMF 9.3 is even more affordable and almost as good

If looks matter - there is a really nice Walnut plinth option

https://musichallaudio.com/

Good luck - Steve

+1 for the Acoustic Signature and they come in at different price points and with a 15 year warranty (for the table)! I have the Hurricane Neo with a Kuzma 4Point9 arm. Obviously above your budget, but you may be able to get a deal on some models. Check out the Double X NEO.

bombproof SOTA Sapphire refurbished from factory, Origin Live Arm and the best Soundsmith or Ortofon or Audio Technica with the $ you have left.  I love the Hana Umami suggestion but it’s $4 k…….

I am a direct drive robot

+1 for VPI, just on the basis of their great customer service.

I would avoid Music Hall at all costs, just on the basis of their customer service.