Audiophile turntables of the 60's and 70's

Personally, my first "audiophile" turntable was a Micro Seiki Solid 5.
I thought the solid wood plinth was so sexy at the time.

dual 1019

During the early 1970s, I lived in New York city, and I used to haunt the well-known audio salons in the center of town. During those years I never saw a Garrard or Lenco turntable in use in one of these stores. As far as I can recall some used the AR turntable. Others used various Thorens turntables. The Thorens TD 125 was a big favorite, once it came out on the market, which I think was a bit later on. A popular combination was the Rabco straight line tonearm mounted on a Thorens, in a high end store. Don’t forget that in those years, while there certainly were people developing turntables, the importance of a turntable in the overall sound quality was not considered paramount . One could also occasionally see European made turntables, from Goldmund or from Lurne’, in these stores. That massive Goldmund turntable that came with its own stand and mounted a Goldmund T3F straight line tonearm, which was nothing but an expensive copy of the Rabco, was a top dog turntable that only the wealthy could I aspire to.

I see I made a few language typos above. Too late to fix them. But you get the point. The Goldmund turntable to which I referred was the Reference. See here.https://zstereo.co.uk/2014/01/22/goldmund-reference/
It’s still highly collectible if not also competitive.  The website says this ensemble was introduced in the late 70s, rather than the late 60s/early 70s.  I remember it well.

Radio Shack had the Realistic brand. Their turntable was considered very good.