What is the best vintage TT for new audiophile?

Well, the best vintage Turntable is that one which works. When you find a
Denon in top condition, think about it. The old Seiki from Japan normally run
like a swiss watch, but the prices are rising from year to year.
Most vintage turntables are grossly overrated (sonically), all I listened to never
moved my impression to the better, the only exception are some Micro Seiki
(but not all). Why not a modern Well Tempered Amadeus? There is definitely
worse out there (sonically) ...
Or you can try to find a Technics SP-10, they are dirt cheap normally and you
can build your own Plinth for it...

I don't know the OP's reasoning for a vintage turntable. Is it for the look to go with a vintage rig? Is it to save money? Is it the belief that everything sounded better 30+ years ago? Given that a turntable is a mechanical device, getting an old one guarantees that you'll need it worked over, at least bearing lubrication and in some cases tonearm bearing replacement. On suspended designs it may need new springs and rubber bumpers and grommets that deteriorate over time.

That said, your best bet is probably an '80s direct drive turntable, understanding that it will at least need the bearing lubed with the correct oil.

As the 5-year enthusiastic owner of a Technics SL1210 M5G, I can say that this turntable has smooth operation and long term reliability with a minimum of maintenance, mainly the bearing lubrication. However, out of the box it has great speed accuracy and low noise, but sounds rather murky. Fortunately it can be turned into a very clean, lively and dynamic turntable with a few low cost tweaks:

o Get a real good turntable mat
o Wrap the tonearm with lightweight Teflon pipe thread tape to dampen it
o Get an LPGear ZuPreme (or Sumiko) headshell
o Replace the standard feet with threaded brass cones or Vibracones sitting on Vibrapods
o Set the whole thing on a big thick butcher block cutting board
o Get the tonearm fluid damper from KABUSA.com. Don't overfill the trough.
o Put a nice MM/MI cartridge on it, such as an Audio Technica AT150MLX, Grado Reference Platinum, Goldring 10x2GX series, or Ortofon 2M Blue, Bronze, or Black. Some low output moving coil carts work well on it too, such as the Zu Audio Zu-103, the Audio Technica PV33 and others, or Denon DL-301 series, DL-304, or DL-S1.

This summaraizes what I did to mine and it takes a pretty expensive turntable to hear a difference. If you do all this you will have a compelling, quiet, dynamic turntable with good frequency extension for a few hundred dollars.

Wow! Great responses. Ok then, what about a new TT with a budget of say...$500??

08-22-12: Skvintage
Wow! Great responses. Ok then, what about a new TT with a budget of say...$500??

In that case, your best price/performance approach would be neither vintage nor new, but rather a recent used model in good condition that's about half what a new one would be. Such a 'table would be too new to have the issues I mentioned before. It *might* need a new belt and a spindle bearing lube, but not necessarily. Currently there are a couple of Rega Planar 3 turntables with dustcover and cartridge in the A-gon classifieds for around $450.

There's also a lightly used Rega P2 with dustcover and cartridge for just $121 over there. That would be a pretty satisfying starting rig with a minimum of fuss. The tonearm on it is worth more than that. You could put a nice cartridge and speed controller on it and still be close to your budget.