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What is the fascination?

I have to ask what is the fascination with these older turntables?  I recently listened to an older SP 10 MKII with a Jelco and Older SME arm with Koetsu and Stanton cartridges.  The sound was very good I will admit but I cannot say it was better than the 1200G or even a 1200GR for that matter.  Heck even the Rega RP 8 is really an amazing sounding turntable for the money and they are brand new.   These tables are coming up on 40 plus years old.  One forum contributor said a turntable should not have any sound at all.  I agree and the newer tables get closer to that "no sound" than many of these colored (smooth,  warm) sounding turntables   I recently purchased a Pickering ESV 3000 MM cartridge that arrived in the mail yesterday and I had to ask myself, "what am I doing?"  So with that being said, why the fascination?  If one want to change the sound of the table, start with the cartridge, they all do sound different.  Nowadays the tables and arms are so good and engineered based on the earlier designs and bettered.  Also, when you buy say an older used arm, how do you know its been cared for?  Arms bearings can be screwed up pretty bad when one tries to tighten cartridges with the headshell attached to the tonearm or the tonearm mounted on the table and many people do not even know they are destroying their arms bearings so I mean you really have to know who you are getting the arm from and check the bearings etc.  There is a lot of risk with turntables, much more than with any components because of so many moving parts that do get old and break.  Why the fascination? 
tzh21y
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three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
I have a little mancave set up as a second system with some vintage gear.  There is just something I like about the looks and sound of my 35 yr old Acoustic Research ES-1 with Grace 707 tonearm and Grado Silver 1 MM cartridge that runs into a older Cary SLI-80.  I picked the AR TT up used for $250.  Perhaps a used Rega R1 or similar would sound as good or better for the same price?  Not really sure but I love the vibe of this little setup.  So I guess I'm guilty of "fascination".
shadowcat2016
132 posts
 
I'm still running a 35 year old, original SOTA Saphire TT, with a Lustre GST 801 arm and an equally ancient Grace, F-9E ruby cart. Is it the be-all and end-all of TT sound??......likely not, but it doesn't lose anything to my brand new Marantz 14S1 reference CDP either. There are always new and "better" toys to be had, but for me I don't hear any need to change what works. YMMV
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
As one who has restored a 39 year old Technics SL-1700mk2 and working on a second one for mono playback, I do it for a few reasons: 

1: It’s fun for me to take something that’s got historical significance and rehabilitate it so (hopefully) I and future generations will enjoy it as an heirloom item. 

2. I enjoy the pursuit of maximizing the potential of things that are already intrinsically good. 

3. I don’t care for the look/feel and price of modern turntables. Most of the new ones I would consider are strictly manual, and sometimes I’m too lazy to get up at the end of then record side to pick the needle up from the lead-out groove. 
glupson
7,842 posts
 
sleepwalker65,

’...and sometimes I’m too lazy to get up at the end of then record side to pick the needle up from the lead-out groove."
That feature has been sorely missing in turntables and you are probably the first one ever to mention it. Ok, besides me to a friend of mine. Such a convenient feature and nowhere in sight these days. To make it more interesting, records/turntables basically died because CDs were more convenient. I know, I know, turntables are alive and kicking, sort of.

Having said that, I am not changing my Technics SL-Q2 until it dies which I hope happens never. It may not be the ultimate machine, but there is nothing better I know of. It is not the sound, it is not that it is vintage, it is not that I am retro. It is that it has been mine since day 1, and that day was not yesterday. It has survived teenage parties, airport baggage handlers, almost two couples of decades, a couple of continents (it does have dual voltage), and the only maintenance it has ever gotten has been oil once a year. No $150 000 new piece of machinery can erase those memories. That is the only true reason. No fascination, just love, I guess.
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