Reason for buying old/classic turntables

Agree that $3000 for a Technics is just crazy, when you can get a good Thorens or Garrard for that. The build quality and sound of those tables is fantastic, better than anything I have heard so far being built nowadays.

FWIW, I find that the flagship direct-drive TTs of Japan in the late 1970s and early 1980s are really quite good. I have one which I enjoy quite a bit. However, they are from being the same. Some of them were relatively light, with very high-torque motors - like the Technics SP-10 Mk2 (and in particular, one other which I will not yet name because I am trying to find one!). Others were lower torque but higher inertia-moment players like the Yamaha PX-1, the Onkyo PX-100M, and a few others (note that when I call these low-torque players, they were not slouches - they all had torque 30-100% higher than the Technics SL-1200 series - but they had half the torque of the Technics SP-10Mk2). Having heard the SP-10Mk2 in the at-the-time very expensive original plinth vs some of the others, I prefer some of the others in stock form. That said, every table in a super-heavy plinth that I have ever heard outdid the same table in the cheaper plinth which came with it.

Chris Brady took his Teres belt-drive turntable designs to the pinnacle of the industry by word of mouth with very little review assistance. They were that good. But Chris found that he had reached a plateau with belt-drive and that he could only move forward significantly by developing a state of the art direct drive design. His Certus turntable is arguably the best modern turntable currently available. Still there are those who could buy it and choose vintage tables instead. I think the original poster wants to know why.

And I think I know what other vintage table T-bone is seeking.

I have seen a lot of these old decks. IMHO the Garrad 301 and 401 are over priced and over rated. Thorens TD 124 and Lenco heavy platters are the best performing idler wheels that you can easily get. My pick is the Lenco because they outperform the Garrads and the gorgeous Papst motor in the TD 124 is almost impossible to replace. Lencos are superb performers and cheap if you know how to service them. Just bin the stock tonearm. Spares can still be found. The Technics SP 10 MK II is a good deck [be wary of flogged out ex broadcast examples] but I would only pay around $500 for a good one. The Micro Seiki top end turntables are as good as it gets with superb high tech designs and excellent performance and no they don't make em like that anymore. I think the price you quoted is way too high.My pick of modern decks is Acoustic Signature. I think the argument over belt or idler or direct drive is academic. Broadcast decks have used mainly idler and direct drive with the top direct drives made by EMT, Denon and Technics, idlers do generally exhibit more rumble and turntable noise. Finally I think that you are on to it. Old decks have been hyped out of all proportion to their actual performance. The reason most turntable manufacturers go for belt drive is ease of manufacture and continual income streams from replacement belts. A real high quality direct drive is expensive to manufacture and there is no after sales service or upgrade market to exploit.

Thanks to Mikelavigne for the super informative article. I never looked at a turntable like described in the article. Being an analog freak for the longest time, I can say that I have become a Direct Drive supporter. Playing a solo piano piece through a DD table is the easiest way tell the strengths of a DD table.

70/80's DD tables suffer a lot from their cheaply made plinths. Today is year 2008...soon 2009 and we have learnt a lot about damping, isolation, use of specific materials etc vs in the 70's. All the knowledge gathered in the past 30-40 years can easilly transform a good motor unit into a great sounding table.