Direct Drive

I second @blisshifi's recommendation: Vintage Kenwood KD 500s are good, affordable DD turntables. Mine has a Fidelity Research FR 54 tonearm and an Adcom HC/E cartridge on it and it is one of the more musical combos I own. Not everyone appreciates the composite plinth's look, but they do sound great!

Congratulations, Mahler123. Really looking forward to your listening impressions when you get the deck - and the stylus upgrade is a good move.

and a Clearaudio Concept which was boring as hell.

what did Clearaudio have to define it as "boring"?

I have to wonder why this table would be as expensive as it is?

simple .... because it is not a big company like Japanese factory were (Sony, Technics, Yamaha, Jvc etc.etc.) to design a DD engine costs a lot in research and development; furthermore VPI will never sell as many DD turntables as the Japanese companies have sold which consequently the cost is passed on to the few pieces that VPI has produced and will sell.

Did you have the TT-PSU with the Rega P5? It was an option on that model (great one - I used to own, discontinued a while back) that should eliminate any speed variations that are noticeable to the human ear. The PSU is standard on the P6 on up I believe. 

They take care of any speed issues, and if you are really anal, they are now adjustable down to a miniscule level (I think .1%), if you want to do so using a strobe. My dealer said it is almost impossible to tell the difference of a minor adjustment and they come out of the box right on the money. Also, belts last an incredibly long time and now most come with 2 belts as part of the design to make them even more stable and long lasting.

I like Rega's simplicity, sound, value and incredible arms for the buck. Anybody else out there give a lifetime guarantee? I have a P8 and think that is the sweet spot for value in their line, and they're probably the only company with a range from the lowest price point to the highest. Naiad is $40K and supposedly unreal. 

Anybody have or heard one of them?

The only issue with Rega is you have to make sure to minimize vibrations, especially from a suspended floor. That's why they sell wall mounted shelves. I have a Townshend Seismic Platform that was a huge improvement (and I use a wall shelf for double vibration elimination).