VPI prime scout VS Music Hall 9.3 VS Technics SL-1200GR VS Rega Planar 6

All excellent turntables with each having a loyal following. 

Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted correct answer to your questions, you will need to audition each table to determine which one suits your personal taste and bias.  

How the turntable ultimately sounds also depends on the cartridge. A less transparent cartridge on a more transparent deck may make the table sound worse, for your taste, than a transparent one on a less transparent deck.

Your own adjectives suggest, but don't prove, that you might prefer the "direct-drive" sound.  There's only on DD turntable on your list.  Since it is unlikely you would be able to audition all 4 of those on your list prior to purchase, I suggest that you might try to listen to the Technics vs any one of the other 3. If you hear more of what you like from the Technics compared to the other, this would be evidence in favor of DD.  The 3 belt-drive turntables on your list are not going to sound that different from one another, qualitatively, whereas the Technics should be distinctly different.  (One caveat: True or not, I have read on the internet that Rega Planar tables, or at least one of the bunch, tend to run a bit fast.  This will make it sound livelier than average.)

I would go with the Technics. 
Don't buy the VPI until you have both heard and handled it.  Unipivots are not for everyone.

Don't buy the VPI until you have both heard and handled it. Unipivots are not for everyone.

VPI tables can be purchased with a VPI Gimbal tonearm as an alternative to the Unipivot.