More like US$1k for a kit (unassembled), 2k for an assembled printer. You can even get a kit cheaper, but most probably will see the differences in quality then.

Look for Nopeheads Mendel90 kit, to get an idea what a good kit looks like. It's very well documented, so you can even go cheaper by looking for the parts elsewhere.  

The Makerbot Replicator 2x has a dual extruder so it can print with two materials in one go, apart from that I don't think it's better - and you can add a second extruder on the Mendel90 as well. 

About the quality, well, I don't have a good camera here. But one of the things on the image is a professional print, from a >20k$ Statasys Printer. Can you guess which one?

A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for.
Sail out to sea and do new things.
-"Amazing Grace" Hopper

Avatar image of me done by Chidori.