So many great golden era DD tables out there, what do you recommend for $1000?

Cmon Chak
Thats just plain silly!

There have been leather and deerskin mats for sale and been used for donkeys years!
Its not new at all!
Not seen pigskin previously but not really much different in idea.

Dear @uberwaltz : The JVC QLA/ is not your best option and disagree with halcro. I linked to you the Yamaha GT750 that use a JVC motor but way better motor than the QL one, that was done under Yamaha specifications certainly it’s not the same QL one.

GT 750 S/N is -82db vs QL -74 db and GT W&F is 0.006% vs QL only a mediocre 0.025.

But the Yamaha tonearm is superb and is the same tonearm than the Yamaha top of the line TT series GT2000 that goes to megabucks price range. Take a look to the links I posted about that includes a review. Inclusive the GT750 is heavy than the QL by around 5kg.. All those have a meaning of quality between both TTs.

You can do what you want it but ? ? ? Up to you.

R.

Raul, with respect, I have to disagree on the gt750. It’s not in the same league with TT81 by most accounts. And you said it yourself: the manufacturer published specs are not meaningful for comparing two products from different companies. Also the Yamaha tonearm on the gt750 is very suspect, partly made of 1970s plastics. The gt2000 is top notch, no doubt, and comparable to TT101, but the gt750 is two big steps down. GT2000X is probably in the big leagues with P3, SP 10 mk3, L07D, etc

By the way, ALL the Japanese DDs with coreless motors borrowed heavily from the design of the Dual coreless motor of the 1960s.  The Kenwood, Victor, Yamaha, Pioneer Exclusive, and even the recent Brinkmann coreless motors are similar to each other and built just like the Dual if you take them apart. (I’ve done it for Victor and Kenwood motors and seen photos of all the others.) Kenwood and perhaps other companies were actually sued by Dual over this issue back in the day.

I agree with Lewn ... the arms applied on the lower range turntables can resemble the same arms as the top models of the house but they are not the same thing in terms of materials and construction tolerances; just look at the standard arm on the JVC QL7 which looks tremendously like the 5045 but it's not quite the same thing, as for the Sony PS X50 turntable which has as standard a tremendously resembling arm to the PUA7 sold separately but is not qualitatively the same identical item .

I fully realise I am not and will not be buying into the best vintage DD tech available.
However I do not think the Yamaha GT750 is better than the JVC QLA7, rather more similar than one being " much" better.
However it all depends on how you even define " better"?.

I will likely add some mass and damping to the JVC plinth so sort of answers the table mass point.
Who truly knows which arm is better?
I will see what my money has got me soon enough!