Yet another turntable recommendation question


Hello all,
Longtime reader of the forums, but I rarely post. As a relative noob, I have learned much from reading your conversations, so thank you.
I am currently looking to upgrade my turntable situation from my old plastic Technics and Onkyo hand-me-downs.
Budget would be stretched at $600-ish.
Features I like...
- removable headshell, or at least a way to easily change carts and related tonearm adjustments
- speed stability!! (as a musician, pitch instability drives me absolutely insane)- some prospect of upgrading over time (tonearm, platter, sub-platter, wiring, etc.)
- belt drive- good (dare I say great?) sound quality- Auto shut off would be very nice

I don't want bells and whistles like built-in phono stage and USB nonsense. Simple is good.

I have considered buying used (Thorens, Dual) and haven't necessarily ruled it out, but I don't want a project, and I darn sure don't want to inherit someone else's problems. Warranties are kind of awesome.
The rest of my system is...
Schitt Mani, Jolida JD1501BRC, Wharfedale Diamond 10.7, Audioquest, BlueJeans, and Morrow cabling.
Mid-fi, I suppose, but I think it sounds great for the price, and I have no immediate plans to change any of that.
I listen to everything from classical to hard rock to jazz to ambient drone.
So far I have looked at Music Hall, Fluance, Denon, Rega, Pro-Ject, but all are compromised in some way.
Are there any others I should be factoring in to the equation?Or any I should steer clear of?
Thanks for any advice and cheers!

earworm22

Showing 1 response by noromance

Pioneer PLX1000 with a Nagaoka MP110 or AudioTechnica AT540ML is what my pals buy when they're looking for a budget table.