Affordable Turntable Options

 ...a Technics SL1401, it will outperform a Pro-ject Debut, U-turn, Rega p1 or the like in every way possible. 

Have you made direct comparisons? 

Have you seen a U-Turn, or just on line photos. I saw one and they don't appear to be very well made IMO. If your Marantz does not work I would look look at a new pro-ject or Rega with cartridge in your price range

I don't understand people's aversion to buying vintage turntables. Turn tables are so simple that they rarely break. If they do usually it's easy and inexpensive to fix. Unless obviously you're talking about a very complex direct drive. But an old vintage belt drive is almost bullet proof. And even the old complex belt drives are very reliable. Worst case you may have to recap them and you will get years of trouble free service.

Have you made direct comparisons?

Yes, except u-turn but it has a lousy tonearm. Cueing as an add-on and no antiskate.  The improved version supposed to have a fixed bias another crappy idea.

I don't understand people's aversion to buying vintage turntables.

Because they are electro-mechanical devices with may pushing be 40 years old or more.  And just like Granny's car stored a shed for 40 years, you wouldn't expect to be able to start it and drive away? Same with vintage TT's - they will require some degree of maintenance and repair and that will mean opening the unit up. And this is what people have an aversion too, especially newbies just discovering vinyl for the first time.  Most don't even know they need a phono preamp. let alone degreasing a vintage TT's automatics or deoxidizing the speed pots.  Ask a newbie to even identify a potentiometer inside a TT?

Vintage is fine if your technically inclined!  But not everyone is. 

And yes, I have a 40 year old Technics SL-1400 that I picked up practically free from an original owner that I totally restored and now operates as if its fresh out of the box.  But if I couldn't do this and had to take it to a shop, I would have walked away from it.  That money would have best been spent buying new.