If you limit yourself to the "Technics" brand, then the SP10 MK3 is the obvious winner. It's the most expensive, rarest, and best of the Technics direct-drive turntables. However, IMO, you don't have to spend nearly that much to get very close to it. Tables that I have personally auditioned (and own) include the SP10 Mk2 and the Denon DP80. The latter is a really undervalued sleeper. I also own a Kenwood L07D, which is fantastic when electronically restored and set up, so I would imagine that its smaller brother, the KD500 is also excellent. The better vintage Pioneer direct-drive turntables are also excellent and plentiful in the US market. Oh, and mind what Audiofeil said, the mat makes a huge difference on any of these turntables. I use a vintage SAEC ss300 metal mat, and it kicks butt over the stock rubber mats on any of the aforementioned. In choosing an aftermarket mat, stay fairly close to the weight of the stock rubber mat you are replacing (within 0.5X to 2X in weight, for example). The servo mechanisms were optimized for a specific mass of platter + mat. One cool thing about the L07D is that by flipping a switch on the outboard PS, it can accommodate additional peripheral platter mass, a ring designed and implemented 30 years ago.
