i guess you have a problem with the looks of the Gem Dandy. As for staying in budget, however, the Absolute Sound reviewed it with a Shelter 201 cartridge. These retail in the US for $310, but can be had from Japan-based vendors on eBay for $167 (I have one). That pretty much puts the Dandy and a good cartridge in your budget range. There's also an advantage in cost of ownership: the 201 replacement stylus is a mere $100 where the Marantz/Clearaudio would be a $500-600 retip plus the several weeks without it while it's being done.
The Gem Dandy has a potential advantage, being made of exclusive polymers instead of available materials. Since the designer also invented these polymers, they are likely optimized for their roles in the turntable construction for vibration damping and control. Also, the available tonearms are by Jelco, which have fluid damping and removable headshells. The latter can be really handy if you want to quickly swap, say, mono and stereo cartridges or MM and MC.
Here's a review of the Marantz TT15S1. The thing is, the reviewer reviewed it without the platter mat in place and didn't realize how much it affected the sound until he was largely done with the review. Once he put the mat on and adjusted VTA, he should have reviewed it all over again, because--with what little ink he devoted to the setup with the mat--it may have fixed everything he previously criticized.
The Gem Dandy has a potential advantage, being made of exclusive polymers instead of available materials. Since the designer also invented these polymers, they are likely optimized for their roles in the turntable construction for vibration damping and control. Also, the available tonearms are by Jelco, which have fluid damping and removable headshells. The latter can be really handy if you want to quickly swap, say, mono and stereo cartridges or MM and MC.
Here's a review of the Marantz TT15S1. The thing is, the reviewer reviewed it without the platter mat in place and didn't realize how much it affected the sound until he was largely done with the review. Once he put the mat on and adjusted VTA, he should have reviewed it all over again, because--with what little ink he devoted to the setup with the mat--it may have fixed everything he previously criticized.