You can add a wood look to Technics and Audio Technica,
get new quartz direct drive, verify features you want, put it in a wood base,
now, or if out of current budget, later.
Vintage Turntable Recommendation
I recently rediscovered a pair of Allison CD6 loudspeakers that belonged to my parents. I had them refoamed and paired them with a small Sansui 350A amp (circa 1970) for a very modest office system that has turned out to be unexpectedly really special.. I would like to add a modest vintage turntable ($500 or less without cartridge) that would complement this system. Since it is for an office, I am leaning toward a semi-automatic as I often get carried away with my work and could see myself easily forgetting that the end of a side of play was approaching. I also think that I would prefer a tonearm where the headshell is detachable for easy cartridge swaps/ experimentation.. Right now, I have a NOS Accutex M420STR that I would like to use in this system. I am leaning toward a Technics SL 1700, but would really appreciate any other suggestions. Thanks..
PS.. my one slight reservation about a table like the Technics is that I don't really like the look of their tables.. The Allison speakers and the Sansui amp have these really nice walnut cabinets/case and the Technics just looks a little plasticky to me.. but if it is the right fit, I have no problems going with it,,,