Reason for buying old/classic turntables

Yes, emotion and nostalgia, but also convenience. In addition to having a VPI Aries, with all the add on's, I have a number of Sony's and Denon's. The two units I use most are the Sony PS-X800 (Linear Arm) and the Denon DP-47F, mainly because they are fully automatic with a repeat feature. The Sony has a Grace Ruby Red, the Denon a 160. Sound wise, in my opinion, these vintage are almost the equal of the VPI, which has a Clearaudio $2K cartridge. My systems are all tubes. Old/Classic TT's that are fully operational and functional are hard to come by and even then, unless you can do a pick up, they are a crap shoot as the carriers punish the units. Often it takes 4 units to get 1. I suggest you never buy unless the seller has all the original packing materials and boxes.

Clssic superior to modern? Not really, at least sound wise. Modern is a lot of fuss, with no one making a fully auto/repeat table. To get friends and family interested in vinyl I always suggest old/classic with fully automatic features. If they get hooked on the 'vinyl' sound, I then tell them to get something modern and see if it is superior to old on a sound basis. I've given a couple of my kid's Denon 47's and they were quite satisfied, especially since the whole family could operate it without damage to the stylus. You just put the lp on and push the button. No one has 'moved' on to 'superior', at least not yet. Since they can compare a 'move up' on my system, they don't 'hear' superior.

There's a lot of BS sorounding the improvements to turntables over the last thirty years. It is, after all, a wheel, and we've had that down for 3000 years or so. Advances in bearings and damping are real, but for most applications a table that was great thirty years ago is still going to be great. Witness the popularity of vintage Thorens TD-124s and the like. Having said that, I think the guy with the $3000 SP10 is crazy. Some people think that because it would cost XX if it were new today that thats how much they should charge for it even though its really old. Personally I use a twenty-year old Sota and it is competative with most of today's tables. Do a lot of research before you jump in with big dollars.

"It is, after all, a wheel, and we've had that down for 3000 years or so."

That is true.

One thing I do not understand is the recent renewed attraction or romance with direct drive tables. What's wrong with a good belt drive that is well able to rotate the platter at a constant speed. Doesn't a belt design provide a more natural and cost efective means of isolating the platter from motor noise or vibration?

I'm sure DD tables can sound good as well but the design seems like it would be harder and more expensive to accomplish well than belt drive. Maybe that's part of the appeal?

My take is that the turntables of old can be good but not so much the tonearms and their old wiring. I would be happy with a Thorens TD125 cleaned up with isolation reinforcement and a good Rega arm. This could be done for well under $1K. If money is no object I will go all modern.

ET

Mapman, we are entering a new golden era of direct driven turntables! I must say that I liked the ads from Technics/Akai/Sony/Denon very much --> direct drive was for my generation the ultimate in drive technology (Technics SL-1200, Denon DP-60, wow!) and back then (during the seventies) it was a "politically correct" thing to have a DD turntable.

Chris