I have been into TT's for quite a while. New, vintage, direct, idler and belt drive. My personal recommendation is what I own and it ends up being around $2k. Massively recommend vintage Japan TT's as well as buying TT's from Japan. I hate to say it but Japan is miles ahead of the US in terms of packaging a TT which is critical imo. The vintage Japan TT's might be older but were built to last a lifetime, especially Technics. There is also a stereo technician or two in most big metro area's.
TT recommendations: Kenwood kp-9010: $1k, Yamaha gt2000: $2k, Micro Seiki bl-91: $2k. Other worthy mentions are dp59l, ps8750, sl-1025, pl71, most of these will be 100v so use a transformer from
www.acupwr.com. JVC/Victor made some really nice automatics as well. It is not really worth the expensive shipping and transformer till you hit around $1k. Hifido and YahooJapan are your friends. Avoid Ebay
Tone arm: If you have the option I highly recommend fidelity research. There are allot of good arms out there but fr is my fav. Stax believe it or not would probably be my second pick (most likely micro seiki arms)
Phono pre: Haggerman Bugle 2: $189, This phono pre is a literal giant killer. I have heard allot of so called giant killers and usually was not that impressed. This phono pre is the real deal. Had I not gotten a massive discount used ($500) on my avid pellar I'd still have my Bugle. Do not let the looks fool you. It is no joke.
Carts: There's always the favorite dl-110. Back when it was $100 it was pretty much untouchable. If you don't mind looking a bit I really like the at30he. I has a replaceable stylus and sounds a bit nicer to my ears than the dl-110. I really wish AT would bring this cart back. I got all my carts new, grey market, from 2juki.
RCM: You have to get one of these. I have not tried out allot but I really like my Nitty Gritty 1.0, $300-400 new on ebay.