[mulveling]

My current table/cart (any 1 of many) greatly exceeds that 5K, but if I had to do it over on a 5K budget, it would actually be an incredibly easy choice: VPI Scoutmaster II and Ortofon Cadenza Bronze. I own a Clearaudio Innovation Wood w/ Graham Phantom and it's really nice but honestly you can get equal or better sound for less money with VPI -- not to mention the far superior service/support/upgradeability. I've got a local friend running an older Scoutmaster with Ortofon Jubilee and I'm very jealous of the price-to-performance ratio he gets there -- especially after upgrading to the 3D arm (now I want a 3D arm over my Graham). Live and learn.

The Cadenza Bronze is among the sweetest of sweet spots I've encountered in audio. It's definitely not flawless (compared to superior attributes of the Koetsu Platinums, Ortofon Windfeld, Ortofon Anna). But it really is a very good technical performer while possessing incredibly musicality. I'll never forget the first time I heard me new Kontrapunkt "c" (the Bronze's predecessor) on my SOTA Star and Tannoy Kensington speakers -- coming from a Benz Glider L2, it was essentially a night-and-day improvement on all fronts. The Cadenza Bronze sounds far better than the lower-end Ortofons, e.g. Cadenza Red, 2M Black (though I haven't hear the Cadenza Blue, which might also be good), and the upper end Ortofons start to lose the plot of musicality to my ears -- though if you decide to stretch for a Cadenza Black or pick up an old Jubilee, I think those would also be excellent choices.