Best turntable/cartridge combo for $700-$750


I have been out of analog playback for several years and want some advice about turntables and cartridges up to about $700-750. I have seen a few prepackaged combo's by Project, Rega, and Music Hall. I would prefer more cartridge options than these combos offer. I realize my price range may limit my options. I have been recently quoted on a Soto Comet II with RB250amr and an Aurum Wood Classic, but the price is $450 over my budget.I am not familiar with this cartridge's performance or value.... The Sota table by itself seems overpriced.....I have a Creek SE5350 Classic integrated amp with their MM phono stage, and a pair of Silverline Preludes. I use Analysis Plus Oval 12 speaker cable.... All advice welcomed
sunnyjim

05-15-08: Piedpiper
Attempting direct comparisons are ultimately confused at best because optimizing the very important cartridge/arm relationship gets thrown out by using the same cart for both. I used the Exact because it was the best appropriately priced cartridge I had on hand that was broken in. I later put an older Sumiko Bluepoint Special on the Rega to great effect which surprised me that I liked it better in some ways than the Exact. I haven't tried it on the Technics yet.
I use a Denon DL-160 mounted on a Sumiko headshell on my Technics. The Rega and Technics tonearms are pretty similar in effective mass, though that can vary on the Technics depending on the headshell.

I get the feeling that the Technics would like HOMCs, because it sure likes the DL-160 (esp. w/fluid damper), and A-Goner Ferrari's review of the Blue Point #2 on his Goldring GR1.2 indicates that the DL-110, 160, and Sumiko Blue Point all have a similar (good) presentation, while the Sumiko sounds a little more refined and detailed.

There are also some Technics/DL-103 enthusiasts out there, though I suspect they use a heavier headshell and the extra counterweight to match the effective mass to the DL-103's low compliance.
How about this?
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1214939629
It's about as close to set and forget as you could hope. No tweaking or modding needed, and the price is right. The technics would be nice too.
I recently faced a similar decision and decided to go with pre-owned (1-week old) Rega P3-24 and a pre-owned Audio Technica AT440MLa cartridge. The total cost, delivered to my home, was $720. I'm absolutely thrilled with the sound! There's really little comparison between my old rig (Technics SL-3200) and thew new set-up. The most obvious improvement is in bass response and resolution.
Mika