Turntable advice

The main concerns I have regarding adjustment and ease there of basically boil down to how manageable it is to adjust and align the cart without excessive expensive tools to best reproduce the recording with good tracking and minimal excessive wear to records. I’d also prefer if most of the adjustments with the included / purchased headshell and within the whole table were sufficient to fulfill the requirements above without excessive shimming. 
 

The 1200gr looked appealing but I had read somewhere about some issues regarding vta with some carts/ headshells and needing to find a mat that helps the cart be leveled out but that could have been user error on the posters part. 
 

some models I considered 

clearaudio concept with satisfy arm 

1200gr 

Mofi ultra deck +m 

well tempered labs Amadeus jr ( pushing the upper end of my budget with 5-700 dollar cart) 

Eat C major  ( pushing the upper end of my budget with a 5-700 dollar cart)

vpi scout 21 ( super pushing the budget with 5-700 dollar cart)

also ease of alignment for me is a weird sticking point due to some records being brand new ( for use with the more expensive cart above) and then I’d like to use a cheaper cart for sampling older more worn/etc records to not put excessive wear/grime on the higher end cart ( higher end relatively speaking within my budget I realize 5-700 probably isn’t a lot for a cart in most peoples eyes)  

as far as MC cartridges and phono, folks generally ge tthe best sound from a step-up transformer into a top-notch MM phono stage. but a stepup is $400-$1k for good ones. 

someone mentioned the DS2. ive listened to  MM section, and it was damn good. all adjustments on front of unit. quite good. never listened to MC section. adjustable gain is a nice feature regardless. 

Rega has a great reputation for a reason. I recommend buying a Rega from a dealer. Have him set it up. My dealer/friend sells many and attests to their incredible value and simplicity. 
 

While the tools for adjustment are not expensive, adjustment is a very fine work and best that final adjustments done by ear… an acquired skill. I am fairly impatient and therefore never adjust my turntable. On the other hand once set up no adjustment is required until upgrade or stylist replacement. 
 

So, as a beginner, I would highly recommend a Rega… great value for the money. Just get with cartridge and no setup should be required… and better yet buy from a local dealer… over time if you get into it he can guide you and take yours as a trade in.

There was another similar thread here recently that the OP may find interesting.

To spend $5K for your list of needs, Pro-Ject hits the sweet spot with the X8 EVO, a Wellfleet cart, HeadBox and PhonoBox DS3. I would add a pair of Sennheiser HD660S and a Cardas Parsec cable. Other carts to consider…Ortofon 2M Bronze, Dynavector 10X5 Low.