Nickatkins,
I was asking similar questions just a little while ago until I finally bought my setup.
I could make other recommendations based on research alone, but I will stick with the three you have listed.
Nottingham. If $2,500 is your limit for a turntable and tonearm, the Nottingham choice is now $3,000. Sorry, its over your stated budget. But it would be my recommendation, although I feel the turntable is a bit quirky, as mentioned earlier.
Scoutmaster. The VPI Scoutmaster can be had for $2,300, and there is a wealth of options that can bring the entire deck up to a whopping $5,000. However, according to VPI tech support, you must use the VPI JMW-9 tonearm, which has an effective mass of 7 grams and has really no provision for antiskating. The mass of this arm may exclude cartridges that have low compliance and are lightweight. (The Denon DL103R is one example of a cartridge with low compliance.) You could, however, increase the effective mass of the arm by adding weight to the headshell. (You might want to get Twls opinion before do this.) To set antiskating, you must twist the tonearm cable. (Are you a good twister?) You may want to contact Slipknot for more information about carrying out that procedure. To tell you the truth, I am not a big fan of the JMW-9, but a lot of people seem to love it.
Thorns. The Thorns is not a bad table, one I considered very seriously. It can easily be had for $1,800, which is the TD 850BC version, the one without a tonearm. To keep your cost under $2,500, you could add the Graham Robin ($645), which would bring your total to $2,445. Later, you could replace the existing tonearm cable with an Incognito Rega Loom rewire kit for non-Rega tonearms. Galen Carol Audio carries this kit, and can even do the wire replacement for $75. If you want to know how this deck sounds, read Michael Fremers review; it was quite favorable.
By the way, you have a very nice system. You might want to reconsider your budget in light of what you currently have so that you strike a good sonic balance with the rest of your components. You also have not mentioned what phono cartridge you intend to use now, and what cartridges you would like to use in the future. Twl is right: you must match the cartridge with the tonearm and with the phono stage in your Supratek.
So you see that putting an analog front end together is not so easy as buying a CD player; theres a lot to consider. Just keep asking questions and eventually you will get there.
Good luck!
I was asking similar questions just a little while ago until I finally bought my setup.
I could make other recommendations based on research alone, but I will stick with the three you have listed.
Nottingham. If $2,500 is your limit for a turntable and tonearm, the Nottingham choice is now $3,000. Sorry, its over your stated budget. But it would be my recommendation, although I feel the turntable is a bit quirky, as mentioned earlier.
Scoutmaster. The VPI Scoutmaster can be had for $2,300, and there is a wealth of options that can bring the entire deck up to a whopping $5,000. However, according to VPI tech support, you must use the VPI JMW-9 tonearm, which has an effective mass of 7 grams and has really no provision for antiskating. The mass of this arm may exclude cartridges that have low compliance and are lightweight. (The Denon DL103R is one example of a cartridge with low compliance.) You could, however, increase the effective mass of the arm by adding weight to the headshell. (You might want to get Twls opinion before do this.) To set antiskating, you must twist the tonearm cable. (Are you a good twister?) You may want to contact Slipknot for more information about carrying out that procedure. To tell you the truth, I am not a big fan of the JMW-9, but a lot of people seem to love it.
Thorns. The Thorns is not a bad table, one I considered very seriously. It can easily be had for $1,800, which is the TD 850BC version, the one without a tonearm. To keep your cost under $2,500, you could add the Graham Robin ($645), which would bring your total to $2,445. Later, you could replace the existing tonearm cable with an Incognito Rega Loom rewire kit for non-Rega tonearms. Galen Carol Audio carries this kit, and can even do the wire replacement for $75. If you want to know how this deck sounds, read Michael Fremers review; it was quite favorable.
By the way, you have a very nice system. You might want to reconsider your budget in light of what you currently have so that you strike a good sonic balance with the rest of your components. You also have not mentioned what phono cartridge you intend to use now, and what cartridges you would like to use in the future. Twl is right: you must match the cartridge with the tonearm and with the phono stage in your Supratek.
So you see that putting an analog front end together is not so easy as buying a CD player; theres a lot to consider. Just keep asking questions and eventually you will get there.
Good luck!