Well I did get the dqx-500/ma-505 up and going by myself so maybe I will take the rca's on myself as well. The ma-505 was kind of a pain, only recommend it if you are in need a compact table with a universal headshell type arm. A fidelity research fr-54 arm will drop right in though, probably what I should have went with, but I wanted a matching micro arm to go with the micro dqx-500.
My take on the sl-1200's is that while a nice sounding turntable one should draw the line around $850. I paid that for both my mk5's from G.C. in Crestwood brand new back in 2004-2005. By the time you get to $850 you are looking at a cyroparts sp25/fr-54 table that I have (will soon be my dad's as it was too large for my current configuration) that no matter how much modding you do to a sl-1200 will never sound as good. Just a plain better chasis, better plinth and better arm with pretty much all the same parts as the sl-1200 if something breaks down. Up the budget to $1200 with my dqx-500 and ma-505 and forget it. The dqx-500/ma505 destroys my mk5.
