Am I a hopeless audio snob?

Richopp, sorry old chap, but your paragraph on tangential tonearms is rife with misinformation. For one example, The best part about the B&O SL turntables was the MMC1 or MMC2 MI type cartridges with which the best of them were equipped.

Furthermore, the vintage Technics direct drive turn tables at the highest level (SP10 Mk3) are competitive with just about anything you can buy today for under $10,000. Whether one given individual will prefer the sound to that of a modern turntable is of course a matter of taste. On that scale, the current prices of properly refurbished and repainted examples are not exorbitant. My opinion, of course.

lewm+2

The newer Technics tt's certainly have strong visual connection to the cheaper DJ tt's.

The SP line is another tt altogether, visual appearance up to user, many routes with custom plinths such as mine.

And I prefer my SP MKII to VPI I formerly owned, both visually and performance wise.

I have had a number of good tts in my system through the years, including the SOTA Star Sapphire, SOTA Cosmos, Teres, and finally a hotroded Technics SP 10 mk II.  You're going to buy the table that you like but don't rule things out that really deserve a listen. 

You can see my Technics setup in My System. It was better than anything I had earlier and not by a little bit. You can, to a point make it look however you want, but the sonic strengths of it are worth whatever limitation you see in the cosmetics. 

Technics new tables are excellent. Especially for the cash.

Wont win you the envy of friends and local audiophiles though.