Turntable for life

Townsend Rock. 

I believe I could stay there.

Years ago I rebuilt an old Dual 1229 and installed a Grace 747 on it. I use it every day, and have never had a problem. It functions flawlessly, is dead silent and looks great in its refinished plinth  and since I did the work myself It's probably my favorite piece of hi-fi.  It repalced my Linn Sondek LP12, which I was never found of. (I know many love their LP12's)
Recently I finished a garrad 301 grease bearing table. Im using an SME 3009 on it  with with great results. I suppose I lean toward the old vintage units for their sound and build quality. That and they are easily affordable. =)
N.

In 2002 I began a search for the last turntable in my life. At that time there were some great choices, but not nearly the breadth of choice available today. I was fortunate to find my "turntable for life" back then, and it truly has proven to be exactly that: a table as competitive with the best today as it was over a decade ago: the Walker Proscenium turntable.

In the past decade, the Walker Proscenium has further evolved to the Proscenium Black Diamond version:  https://walkeraudio.com/proscenium-black-diamond-v/

Mine is the earlier Proscenium Gold. But the core of the table is the same, and it could be fully updated should I choose to do that. I doubt that I will -- this table continues to be just so deliciously great at what it does. My comments on this forum from a dozen years ago still apply: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-walker-audio-proscenium-gold-signature-turntable

Today, we are fortunate to have many really great new turntable designs and if I were starting my search today, and depending on my budget, I would love to explore the current offerings from Brinkman, Galibrier, Kronos, TW Acustic, VPI, Walker Audio (the new Procession turntable).

Yet I have not interest in changing from the Walker Proscenium. It continues to deliver on all of those aspects of sound reproduction that are important to me. 

Best wishes for those moving forward in your search. It's an important search because the sound we get is only as good as what is being extracted from the vinyl grooves at this earliest point in the reproduction chain. If the information is not coming off the grooves, no amount of investment further down the component change can replace the loss.

LP12, 17 years young and going strong

Thanks so much again to everyone. I read and greatly appreciate all responses!