Purchase advice: Old turntable vs. new....

Sorry for the delay in my reply. My plinth is  6-1" MDF segments stacked, with top, sides and face fashioned out slabs of Purpleheart, faceplate is 1" thick, top and side pieces are 3/8" thick Purpleheart as well.

I mounted a Dynavector 501 arm, and used Edensound Bear Paw footers that are 6lbs. each, one in each corner. Parts are available on Ebay from Perfect Sound in the UK, and other places.

You can get a look at it on Virtual Systems under Done For Now, "The Summit". It is a fine, fine thing.

Bes 

I believe that you’re safe with top class Direct Drive like Yamaha GT-2000 or Denon DP-80, Technics SP-10 mkII, Luxman PD-444, Pioneer PL-70 II ... and related japanese DD turntables. And you don’t need to invest in service if you can find them in perfect condition (you can, everyday). Yes they are better than most of the modern turntables available for the same price and for higher price. I can say the same about vintage Japanese toneamrs, for the price of that new Jelco you can find much better tonearms for sure, most likely they will be a japanese classics from the 70s/80s.

If you want to invest $2900 (including restoration) in old Idler then for the same amount you can buy a better direct drive in perfect condition, just look for Luxman PD-444 on ebay or just buy your Yamaha, the only problem with yamaha is the tonearm. On Luxman you can use any tonearm, almost 99% of the tonearms (no matter "9, "10.5 or even "12) can be mounted.

If someone can pay $2000 just to restore Garrard i would recommend to buy Victor TT-101 instead and restore it for $1000 or 1000 Euro estimate.

Or simply buy new Technics 1200G

I’m a big fan of vintage DD turntables. Original owner of a 30+ year old Denon DP72 that is still going strong. Got a DP62 in backup and just got a great deal on a Kenwood KD500 in good working order. You said it “Gigantic and Tremendous”

@chakster 

I have seen a couple of GT-2000s with the YSA-1 tonearms installed. Do you think it would be a better idea to go with one of these or is the difference marginal?

Yes, i think Direct Drive is always a better idea when you're buying vintage turntable, but i've never tried their YSA toneamrs, also i'm not sure how easy would be a tonearm swap if needed. I know there was a special version of SAEC arm designed for Yamaha.