In my own experience, in your price range,
New: Technics SL1200mkII
Recent used: Rega P3
Put a Dynavector 10x5 on the SL1200 and just quit. The Rega gives you a few years of tweaking/upgrades and will launch you on that path, but can be configured to outperform your excellent 740C. I have done both of the above, and either endpoint (the Rega one takes longer to reach) is satisfactory.
Personally, in that price range, I gotta agree with Les_creative-edge regarding top-line Japanese decks of the 1978-1983 vintages, but I would also consider this path somewhat incongruous with your system.
New: Technics SL1200mkII
Recent used: Rega P3
Put a Dynavector 10x5 on the SL1200 and just quit. The Rega gives you a few years of tweaking/upgrades and will launch you on that path, but can be configured to outperform your excellent 740C. I have done both of the above, and either endpoint (the Rega one takes longer to reach) is satisfactory.
Personally, in that price range, I gotta agree with Les_creative-edge regarding top-line Japanese decks of the 1978-1983 vintages, but I would also consider this path somewhat incongruous with your system.