How do you choose a turntable ?

I go by Aesthetics. Different.  "Cool Factor".  It just has to just sit there (as it will most of the time) with the wtf is that? Charisma.  Not just a box with a big circle in the middle and skinny thing on the right side.

J.A. Mitchell tables. Transcriptor, Gyro, Orbe. Which reminds me of SME tables. Maybe even a B&O 4002. 

1980's.  I saw this table that called to me.  I walk across the room to look at. It was a Technics SP10 with a Dynavector tonearm.  Yes, it was a box with a big circle thing.  But far from a stick on the right side. 

Someone above mentioned not getting a MM cartridge and said to go right to MC. I have both types and personally, I enjoy my MM cartridges much better than MC. There is a jump factor I get with the MM that I do not get with my MC cartridge.   Don’t count them out.  

Nottingham tonearms can work well with a wide variety of cartridges but were designed with MM in mind. They used to have Nottingham MMs but no longer, it was an upscale Goldring, Audio Note MMs are also based on Goldring. And that's what I have - Goldring 1042. The sound keeps improving no matter where in the chain I upgrade, big upgrade or small upgrade. I still don't hear everything this cartridge is capable of, I think. So yes, I suggest you first put reputable $500 MM before even thinking about expensive LOMCs. Or perhaps $1k MM - Audio Note, Nagaoka etc.

If truly starting from scratch, I’d pick the best phono stage based on reviews in terms of quietness first and foremost and then flexibility to adjust capacitance and gain easily and finally with the inputs and outputs I desired. Then I would pick a tone arm based again on reviews. Next I’d move to cartridges. Hopefully ones I could listen to on the same system. Not necessarily the system I’m building but each cart I’m considering on the same turntable and arm so I can get a sense for differences in the cart. After I’ve picked a cart which should be compatible with the arm I’ve selected, then I’d pick a table. After that I’d incrementally improve the inter connects. 

If truly starting from scratch, I’d pick the best phono stage based on reviews in terms of quietness first and foremost and then flexibility to adjust capacitance and gain easily and finally with the inputs and outputs I desired. Then I would pick a tone arm based again on reviews. Next I’d move to cartridges. Hopefully ones I could listen to on the same system. Not necessarily the system I’m building but each cart I’m considering on the same turntable and arm so I can get a sense for differences in the cart. After I’ve picked a cart which should be compatible with the arm I’ve selected, then I’d pick a table. After that I’d incrementally improve the inter connects.