Twl
I am a fan of your thinking and writing, but with respect, perhaps you are being a little harsh here.
Sure, its true there were tons of mass marketed, crap DD turntables in the 70's.
Cheap lightweight plastic cases, silly strobe lights, lousy arms, jerky semi or fully automatic operation.
They were perfectly matched to similarly mass produced receivers with vinyl veneered MDF cabinets and boasting ".04% Total Harmonic Distortion"
(Even then, I dont think they were quite as sleazy as "Coby"?! although you made me laugh!)
What I remember as well, however, were many high end attempts at turntables based on the popular drive technology of the time.
Denon made a number of high end ish turntables. The Kenwood had a resin (?) base that was unusually heavy and granite like -- as I said a cult high end favorite. The Yamaha PX-2 was direct drive and also an excellent table, especially when tweaked with platter mats and record clamps.
I am no Michael Fremer, but in my experience, suspensions, platter surfaces, arms, cartridges and set up -- especially record cleaning and preparation -- have always had a much bigger impact on performance than the presence or absence of microphonic vibration through the spindle or something.
And maybe I had the wrong match for an arm and cartridge, but for me, my years with a Linn LP12 were the unhappiest analogue years of my life. I never liked that turntable, found it sensitive and finicky and never enjoyed it.
I am not loyal to direct drive or belt drive. For sheer coolness alone, I have always coveted a top of the line VPI with an SME V or something, but in the absence of spending the big bucks, would consider a vintagey DD again.
Would love to hear your retort on any of this but that's the way I see it, I mean, heard it.
Best wishes.
