What's your favorite $5-7000 turntable?

Dear @dhcod  : 1+ for the Rega RP-10 that even comes with a top tonearm performer.

Look, in the M.Fremer review of the SAT XD-1 DD TT with a price tag of around 98K+ he commented this:

"" The XD1 shares some sonic characteristics with Rega's revolutionary RP10 turntable: ultrafast, clean transients throughout the audible frequency range; tight, fast bass; revealing midrange transparency; and overall sonic stability and focus. All these characteristics result, apparently, from careful attention paid to structural rigidity and the removal or prevention of unwanted vibrational energy. ""

and in both TTs used same top LOMC cartridges.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

You haven’t said which Schröder you have. I’ve heard the CB and briefly the BA as well as my Reference and enjoyed all three. The various CB, I’ve heard were on a PTP, a CS Port and a Dohmann, as well as one on a Brinkmann Oasis and they all sounded special even in the company of the top Glanz  on the CSPort.

Two adjustments that I’ve found critical but are not present on a lot of other arms are the tension of counterweight grub screw and the screw that holds the cartridge carrier to the headshell, the latter was always the wood version, I’ve not had a play with the metal version but Schröder says it’s even less forgiving. I find a light touch is needed for both and assessing the result by ear. If you have the knack of setting up your Schröder hang on to it, it’ll be very hard to beat.

If you have a chance, check out the Luxman PD-151MARKII.

Luxman has done a great job building & voicing their turntables the past few years including the earlier PD-151 & PD-171 models.

No tweaking required.

SL1200G is an interesting suggestion. Have you compared it to a expensive belt drive?