Reason for buying old/classic turntables


Could you please clarify why many people buy old/classic turntable from the 1960's or 1970's? Are those turntables better than the contemporary ones? Is it just emotion and nostalgia? I'm also asking because these classic turntables are often quite expensive (like vintage automobiles and wine). Recently I saw an advertisement for the Technics SP-10 Mk II for $3,000 and a Micro Seiki SX-111 for $6,000. You can also buy a modern turntable like an Avid, a Clearaudio or Raven for that kind of money. Or are these classic turntables still superior to the modern ones?

Chris
dazzdax
Mrjstark, It's really a question of whether the highest forms of modern technology are being applied to tt development at all. Perhaps the Monaco Grand Prix tt is an example that would tend to answer the question in the affirmative, but there are not too many others in the same ballpark. I guess I would add the Raven and Brinkmann products from Germany and the Saskia, the Walker and the Teres/Galibier efforts in this country. Possibly Transrotor and maybe a few others (Caliburn) could be included. These are all megabuck products. But the majority of the formulaic tts that are being churned out today by the gazillions certainly do not stretch the envelope in any way and are not technically any better, if as good, as the oldies. (Think platter resting on a ball bearing in an MDF plinth powered by a tiny outboard motor via a stretchy belt; for 50% more dough you get a platter that is 50% thicker and heavier but is not technically any different in any way from the base model.) Certainly CAD-controlled processes are capable of generating parts that are way lower in tolerance than what was possible back in the 70s or 80s, but I don't see where that technology is being applied other than among the makers I cited and a few more I may have missed. I was very skeptical myself about idlers and dd tables, until I heard the Lenco in my system and read the testimony of others I trust as regards upgraded dd tts.
Well said Lew. I remember test driving some Triumph's, after working on them. Used to be a mechanic. Those thing's would just drift/float the curves.

Fun times, as well as analog is.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Enjoy, both the holidays, and the music.
It's really a question of whether the highest forms of modern technology are being applied to tt development at all. Perhaps the Monaco Grand Prix tt is an example that would tend to answer the question in the affirmative, but there are not too many others in the same ballpark. I guess I would add the Raven and Brinkmann products from Germany and the Saskia, the Walker and the Teres/Galibier efforts in this country. Possibly Transrotor and maybe a few others (Caliburn) could be included. These are all megabuck products.

Megabuck doesn't mean the best performance. There are two examples realized right here on Audiogon... A Brinkmann that was smoked by a Garrard 301 and a Walker Proscenium that was outdone by a Technics.