I need a turntable, only have $450 to spare...

I'm a big fan of the Technics line, especially for sub-$1K turntables. Sometimes, if you scour the internet enough, you can find a new SL1200mk2 for $350, but not always. You still need to leave room for a cartridge,

Audio Technica makes a creditable knockoff of the SL1210 mk5, called the AT-PL120. As you can see, LPGear, an authorized dealer, offers them for $219. Crutchfield has them for $249; LPGear charges a restocking percentage for most returns; Crutchfield has a 30-day no-hassle return policy (you pay return shipping only).

For the money you save you could get a pretty nice cartridge to go on it, such as an Ortofon 2M Blue (a particularly excellent match with this 'table), a Grado Silver, or with a little stretch, the AT150MLX, which is unbelievable at $307.

A less-known choice would be LPGear's AT95SA, which is an AT95E with an after-market Shibata stylus, for $150. This would bring you in at $400 total, and leave money for a better turntable mat ($20 Technics Supermat from http://www.kabusa.com), and perhaps some replacement feet or a homemade isolation platform (butcher block cutting board supported by squishy feet).

For a review of the AT-PL120 from an audiophile's viewpoint, go to Tone Publications, download issue 11, and turn to page 9.

You have to get north of $2K, and more often $4K, to find a belt drive with a better s/n than the Technics SL12x0 series. There may be other issues, but they're not noisy, and it's easy (and cheap) with better feet and mat to reduce what little vibration is there.

The Technics' weighted s/n figure is -78dB. This is lower than most turntables under $4K that publish their spec. However, perception of turntable quietness is not so simple, and subjectively the Rega P3 *sounds* quieter than the Technics. I don't think this is belt drive vs. DD as much as other factors. The Rega P3 variants have had about 25 years of development in vibration control and resonance neutralization. Those developments in the Technics stopped with the 1981 introduction of the sl1200mk2, still in production.

However, I've found, as a Technics owner for 2-1/2 years, that some simple, inexpensive things can control resonances and vibration in the Technics that subjectively drop the noise floor, improve inner detail, clarity, and dynamic range, and relax the presentation.

Out of the box, the tonearm rings: wrap it in Teflon plumber's tape. Replace the feet and replace the turntable mat. This $42 in tweaks takes the reputed "direct drive glare" right out of it. I've found that much of this glare is tonearm resonance. It rings right in the upper midrange, and the $2 teflon tape pretty much fixes it without significantly changing the effective mass.