Would a Technics SL-1200 MK2 be an upgrade from a Denon DP-31L?

(A  Kenwood KD 500 with  SME 309 for $ 500 ?  You will never find one near that price!)

That is not entirely true. According to ebay sale history, The last 6-7 500's that sold on ebay went between 127 and 250, sans arm, with most below 175. Over the past 4 years or so, I have found a few with a 309 on it for in and round $500. They do not last long and get grabbed up quickly, but they are there.

I've often thought of pulling the trigger for one.

Oops, i meant 3009. My bad........thanks for making me look foolish! ;?) I wish it were a 309!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the confusion.

Dear @hockey4496 : With all my respect to the gentlemans that posted here seems to me that all of them just posted with out real foundation facts. That " superiority " that they spread here just does not exit not even on  dreams and a total misunderstood on the Technics vs Denon.

Denon is one of the best DD turntable/tonearm/cartridge/electronics/LP recordings manufacturer ever, so is not just one of the " pile ".

For example: the Denon tonearm beats easily to the 1200 one. But the Denon not only outperform the 1200 because its better tonearm but ( example again. ) its servo control is BI-Directional. This kind of servo its shared only for other vintage expensive TT as: Denon or JVC, but even really expensive vintage TTs had not.

If you take a look to this Denon link and compare against the 1200 you will see the real superiority of your Denon to the 1200MK2:

https://www.canadianhifi.com/sites/default/files/product/667/manuals/Denon%20DP%2031L%20Turntable%20...

If I was you I keep that Denon and I can go for a better cartridge ( I don't know what you have. ) or a better phono stage where you can live a real improvement over what you own. Stay away of that 1200MK2.

I don't know why you want to change your really good Denon performer but I know for sure that you need not hundred of dollars but over thousand of dollars to beat it.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

raymonda- I wasn't trying to make you look foolish !

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, it looks like I'm sticking with my Denon for now, the guys wife didn't want him trading for the Klipsch rear speakers I was offering because he has to many already.

with that said, a little off topic, but I just made a weight stabilizer (I'm very good at procrastinating). Since I don't have a scale I'd estimate it weighs about as much as a half a bottle of water (standard 16.9oz). Is that an acceptable amount of mass to add to the platter, or is that too much strain on the motor? It plays fine with the weight on, just don't want to burn out the TT a few weeks down the road. (Specs: It is about 4" tall, with a diameter of maybe 2". It covers the inside half of an LP label, and the spindle has about 2mm of free space around it)