helomech: I too use a Thorens 166 MkII that I purchased new in 1984. It has been modded by K-Works with adjustable racketball feet, new RCA cables, and damping to the platter. I also added a K-Works Ersamat and KAB record clamp. I have 2 tonearm wands, one with an Ortofon OM-30 and one with a Denon DL-160. As far as the sound goes, there is obviously better out there, but needle-drops I bring to my local audio club generally get a lot of compliments, and they tend to sound a lot better than the standard commercial CDs of the same recording (I use a Marantz pro-sumer CD recorder via the MM phono section in my McIntosh C220 preamp).
FWIW, I asked a similar question to the Stereophile panel at the New York Audio Show in 2014. The answers were as you would expect - Michael Fremer (IIRC), who is not a big fan of suspended ’tables, suggested a non-suspended ’table in the $1500 price range. Art Dudley, who enjoys suspended ’tables, suggested I keep the Thorens if I liked it.
I also asked the same question a couple of years ago to the sales manager at VPI (he is no longer there, I believe). He said to get a Traveller (which was a current model at the time) and never look back.
In the end, due to falling income and general happiness with the Thorens as it is, I decided to stick with the old reliable TD 166 Mk II.
If you can, try to have someone bring over a VPI or other non-suspended turntable and try it in your system with you records.