Sell Me Your Women, Your Children, Your Vintage Turntable...

Different strokes for different folks, some people have no taste in my opinion. Dr.Feickert’s design is OK, unlike most of the modern turntables.

But Garrard 301 Hammertone is one of the most beautiful turntables, simplicity and minimalism in design is not for everyone. This is state of the art classics!

In a modern plinth like this (many different veneer available) it’s still great, very expensive, but it’s beautiful.

Another example of retro and new is Torqueo Audio turntables like this.

*Most of the new high-end turntables can quickly win my prize for the ugliest design ever, look at the most expensive modern high-end turntables like this :))

Check out my system in my profile. Just my very humble, but if you read Art Dudley's two part piece on the venerable TD124 you will perhaps get the appeal. The TD124 and Garrard 301 were purpose-built meaning that each and every piece that makes up the whole was new and not carried over from some previous design. They have a unique sound, quite similar and yet different, due to being idlers. Idlers sound different than direct drive and belt drive (just as the latter two sound different from each other). The motor on a TD124 is huge and hugely powerful compared to an AC synchronous and the Garrard 301 has an even larger more powerful motor. What is sacrificed in motor noise is gained in drive, force, attack, propulsive-ness when properly implemented. Different better engineered spindle bearings and platters can optimize the sound. And then there are so many choices for great tonearms, Reeds being my preferred match. Once restored from scratch, both the TD124 and 301/401 will last a lifetime, probably two, with almost no maintenance. They were designed and built as transcription tables meaning they were meant to run 24/7 for years at a time. As with cooking, sometimes simple things are best. So that pretty much encapsulates the appeal imho. 

@akg_ca Oh you’re just so smart. Thanks.

I don't buy a turntable to be beautiful. It has to work in all respects. I can understand being into antiques but not at the expense of performance. Idler wheel turntables rumble. If you rebuild them with amazing parts they will start rumbling in a few months and it will get worse as they age. It was the prime reason belt drive turntables took off but they are admittedly poor at slip "Q' ing. Radio stations got better and FM stereo required better, quieter turntables for commercial use which is where direct drive tables came in. Now you have all these old idler wheel tables lying around for cheap money and a few years and a bunch of mythology later they are the best performing turntables made....not. There is no way in 
h--l you are going to keep that many bearings quiet. Why do you all think the AR XA  took off so abruptly. You have to look at it in context of what was available at the time. Many of the best turntables made today mimic the XA's design in one or more ways.  It may have had a lousy tonearm but darn it was quiet and it did not feed back. All of the best turntables made today are belt drive. There are a few that dabble in idler and direct drive but it does not appear the market takes them seriously. 

So by all means stick with modern turntables they are better.