Technics SP-10 Tonearm Pod instead of Plinth/Base

The SP-10 MK 4 would have to sell for $20,000 or much more and would therefore only sell a couple thousand units at best. Companies like Panasonic are not interested in offering products with such limited appeal.

The original high end tables were statement pieces inspired and funded by a burgeoning turntable business that was selling millions of low end units. Those days will never return.

Good points, Macrojack. Then, rather than re-inventing the wheel, follow the example done many including Origin Live. Buy the parts from the manufacturer and 'build' a 'new' DD turntable. Geez, they put Ford engines into exotic cars (Aston Martin- yeah, yeah Ford owned it at the time), and Toyota engines are tweaked and used by Lotus.

Even the standard SL1200 Mk2 can be made to sing (Dave at Sound Hi-Fi UK, KAB in the USA). Then why not either (a) buy the bits from Panasonic and 'make' a deluxe version (decent plinth, external PSU etc) or (b) Bulk buy the SL1200, use the parts and do the same. In this economic climate, Panasonic just might be all ears....

Business is all about returns and there is simply too little upside to justify the necessary outlay.

Kevin at KAB told me that the motor is what keeps the SP-10 performance beyond the reach of anything that could be done to improve the 1200.

You have to understand that all of the high end audio sales worldwide in the last ten years wouldn't add up to a good month at Panasonic. We are a small niche market. When the classic, direct drive statement pieces were manufactured, stereo was a growth market and every family in America was buying a sound system. These were comprised of two speakers, a receiver, a turntable, and sometimes, a cassette deck. Variations on this standard existed but they were statistically insignificant until the 1980s when high end audio began to erupt. As this was happening, CD was being introduced. After just a few years, the L.P. had been pushed aside by the recording industry and turntables went with it. The small resurgence we are seeing now will never grow too much but I like its chances better than what CD is looking at.
Downloads are killing it.

So your best bet is to offer me an unconscionable amount of money for my SP-10 and modify it as you see fit. I'm not presently planning to sell but my head can be turned by figures.

Just trying to maintain useful perspective.

Macrojack, I don't know about you, but I have been able to determine that most of us are old farts. What happens when we go to the happy LP hunting grounds, as far as the value of these turntables? I wonder how many of us are under 50 years old, for example. I worry about the resurgence of vinyl in the long run, if there is a long run. Well, I actually have more important things to worry about, come to think of it.

Lewm - You raise an important question. Supply and demand will certainly dictate the value of these devices. Right now interest is fairly high because the tables are sorta scarce relative to the number of us who think we want one. As we leave the scene, will we be followed by younger people who want these? I tend to doubt that there will be anything approaching one to one replacement in the U.S. Possibly a lot of our stuff will be bought up by aficianados in other parts of the world.
Or maybe Google will manage to have non-digital media outlawed worldwide.

For now, I'll keep spinning a few discs a week and let the gray get white and whiter until it all falls out.