Me, I'm waiting for the Levinson 8-track player to come out...

So it's essentially a cost-reduced Maybach for vinyl?

Like the first Levinson-branded turntable, this could likely be made by VPI, with a commensurately much higher price tag.

Saw the title and thought, “hmm, Levinson and cheap in the same sentence? Sounds dubious.” I was right. In what world is a $6000 turntable without a cartridge “cheap”? And before start rattling off oddities like $40,000 Goldman turntables, you surely realize there are dozens (if not hundreds) of really, really good turntables on the market for under $2k with very serious tone arms and cartridges in the package. There are some decent offerings for under a grand, even. “Audiophile” usually means “expensive”, but it doesn’t have to be comically so.

minivini No disrespect, but it says a “cheapER high-end turntable”, NOT a CHEAP turntable.
So yes, you DO have to compare it to the $40,000 and even $100,000 “high-end” turntables.
Compared to THOSE it is “cheaper”. But a I agree that it is NOT cheap!

Not sure about Mark Levison, remember when they rebadged an Oppo DVD player and got the THX rating, yet the same Oppo did not. Do have a Mark Levison (or Harmon Kardon (more on that brand later), who just about owns all the old audio brands in my 2011 Hyundai Genesis, which was only available that year in two cars, the Bently Azure and the Hyundai Genesis (which Genesis now puts in all models). Brand cache? Maybe it was Harmons higher line in the past, but remember they used to own AKG, AMX, Becker, Crown, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL,, dbx, DigiTech, Martin, Revel, Soundcraft, Studer, Arcam, Bang & Olufsen, BSS Audio and Clarion. But just note, Harmon is now gone, acquired by SAMSUNG four years ago, so you are looking at a $6K Samsung Turntable! Simple audiophile knowledge, that the consumer should be aware of, maybe the reviewing author also.
Plenty of great turntables out there for under $1500 nowadays save your money.

and Samsung own Harmon

I guess in a world where Billions are now bandied around like thousands in days of yore this could be considered cheap. I'm just glad I hung on to my old Hitachi turntable and cassette and 8 track players, not to mention all the old associated medias.

turntables, cartridges, tonearms and the like are a PITA in terms of maintenance and general finickiness. i wish major moolah could be applied to further development of non-contact playback which would neatly sidestep the limitations of physical playback.

In 1977 I worked at Radio Shack and bought a LAB-300 turntable for $149, I also bought a brand new Ford Granada for $7,700. A few belts and a couple of cartridges later, the turntable still sounds fine to my 68 year old ears. I imagine the Granada has been recycled a few times since I drove it last in 1981.