08-10-07: Piedpiper
Thanks for restating Metalsymph. Good question, and not easily answered. There has definitely been some evolution in TT design but economy of scale and inflation make it a complex question with no definitive answer IMHO.
And that's what you get with the Technics platform and the Rega-sourced arm. You can buy both new rather than used, but in both cases economy of scale gives you more performance for the money spent.
This is a $400 platform with noise and speed accuracy figures of a $2K-$3K platform combined with the only sub-$1K tonearm (or an assembly-line cousin) in S'phile Class B.
You really can get both plus the Denon DL-160 for $1K or a little less.