@lawaspen you are basically doing the same thing I am. I have narrowed my search down to Marantz TT-15S1 with Clearaudio Virtuoso Cart, Rega P3 or P6 with Exact cart, Clearaudio Concept, Music Hall 7.3 with Ortofon Bronze.
My my personal opinion is that the cart makes the biggest difference if the tables are all similar. So my advice to you is find a shop locally that can let you listen to as many combinations as possible. Last week I listened to the Marantz, Rega P3 (Elys cart), and the Clearaudio Concept. Marantz performed the best by a lot. Probably because the Virtuoso cart is $1000 retail.
Others that folks on this board have mentioned are Mofi, SOTA, and the Technics DD tables.
good luck!
My my personal opinion is that the cart makes the biggest difference if the tables are all similar. So my advice to you is find a shop locally that can let you listen to as many combinations as possible. Last week I listened to the Marantz, Rega P3 (Elys cart), and the Clearaudio Concept. Marantz performed the best by a lot. Probably because the Virtuoso cart is $1000 retail.
Others that folks on this board have mentioned are Mofi, SOTA, and the Technics DD tables.
good luck!