Good turntable needed, need recomendations.

I agree that you really need to consider a table, arm, cartridge and phonostage as a record playback SYSTEM and therefore should set your budget at a figure that will allow you to work with a reputable dealer to put together the whole package. (You could go used but as a newbie in the vinyl realm I would caution you here--an experienced dealer will be able to help you select components that work synergistically and will ensure that your table is properly set up and calibrated so that you get maximum performance for the dollars you have invested). To get something that will fully realize the potential of your new Vandy 7s I would think $20K would do it. There are many options at this price point and I certainly have not heard many or even most of them. Two that I can highly recommend from personal experience would be the Raven 1 with the Raven arm and the Spiral Groove SG2 with either the Centroid or Triplanar arms. Either of these would nicely compliment your system. If you are on the East Coast, Jeff at High Water Sound is the guy you want to talk to about the Raven and Mike at Extreme Fidelity in New Jersey can help you with the Spiral Groove. If you are intent (and have the funds) to jump straight into a top caliber vinyl playback system I would think that these two tables should be near or at the top of your list.

Sounds like you might be a candidate for an Oracle VI. Should be in your price range, looks nice (but there is that pesky acrylic), and is supposed to be top notch.

I am fairly new to vinyl as well, and not playing quite in your price range. I have also been going my own way a little bit. I am actually building my vinyl front-end from the phono stage back. That is after I bought an entry-level turntable to determine that I liked vinyl.

Whatever you choose, you are playing in a range where setup and system matching will be critical. So, hopefully you have a good amp/preamp match to your speakers. In my case, I went a different direction and chose high-efficiency speakers with low-powered tube amps rather than something like your Vandersteens-- which I understand to be superior speakers.

I will tell that I just received my phonostage/pre-- a Manley Steelhead-- and it is phenomenal. With your gear, you should be looking at something as good or better and as flexible. I would work with a very good dealer who knows vinyl and your other associated gear.

Happy Listening!

PMB

Sorry will get a vpi 16.5 or more likely a 17, the phono stage will be an Aestic (sp) Rhea.

If you live in or near Scottsdale Arizona, you are welcome to come hear my VPI Superscoutmaster rim drive driven by Ayre gear into Vandersteen 5A's. Let me know if you are interested.

The Wave Kinetics NVS table is a very serious attempt at the state of the art in direct-drive - it was designed by a group in the graduate Physics Department at Stanford. If I were in the market for a new table, I would make sure I heard it.

It has a modern look: http://wavekinetics.com/nvs.html