This is such a coincidence because just this morning I was figuring that I've got about $3K wrapped up in my basic rig and I'm just so happy with it...and what's so cool about this thread is that a good number of people are pretty much recommending up almost exactly what I have honed in on based on my own personal listening and the decisions resulting from a couple months of listening and researching. Cool!
So, I have to agree with the those that are recommending the km184 or AKG 480 / 460 with a variety of capsules along with some good quality silver cables and a modded 660, 671 or R4.
I'd also make sure you budget at least $100 - 150 or so for a good bag to hold everything because if you pay that much, you want it stored well so everything isn't banging together in a poorly designed bag. That is a lesson I've just recetnly learned the hard way after going to All Good and discovering after the festival that some of my stuff was scuffed up just from being in my bag.
My logic when I recently bought both the 184s along with the 480s (with card and hyper caps) was that I just absolutely LOVE the 184 sound, but since they're fixed capsule mics, I bought the 480s for situations when I want to have the variety offered from an interchangeable cap microphone. This provides me with a versatile set of mics to cover all situations. I had originally strongly considered the 414s because they sound fantastic, plus they have switchable pickup patterns. While I totally loved the AKG-414s I listened to, I ruled them out because others recommended that the large diaphragm mics don't have the best track record when you don't have much option for mic placement. So, since they're kinda big and can block the view of videographers, users will sometimes get asked to move them outta the way...and if you're stuck in the back in a less than ideal location, I guess they fall to the back of the pack as far as mic sound and performance...or so I'm told.
