Who will survive? One last table til I die.

Steve, when I was looking there wasn't much available that fit the criteria: among those considered was the big P Lurne (too complicated & many lacquered wooden parts so, vulnerable), the P Triangle Export (too finical & I wanted "better" sound), Oracle (it seemed too complicated too, although robust looking), Townsend Rock (irreplaceable parts -- I liked that one though), VPI (good construction, but too many wooden parts & "complicated" set-up to get the voiving I wanted)...

The Teres (a good idea from Twl who's researched these things) wasn't around.

So, the somewhat expensive (then; nowadays "reasonable") S. Yorke, looked good; with a bog-standard outboard motor (easily replaceable), no wood apart from the basic board that serves as an armboard, no "belt" problem (being outboard, the motor is placed wherever you like; in fine, you only need a thin rubber band of reasonabley large diametre to make the platter turn -- sorry this doesn't sound very hi-end, but it's true, I've done it), it looked promising.
It also sounded good (better to my ears than the Lurne+parallel arm+ the good'ole Grasshopper), which was heart-warming.

Strangely, the cartridge doesn't worry me; I have a feeling (i.e. no corroborating evidence) these will be around for a while... the fact that products like Shelter pop up, are a consolation. Clearaudio also seems set to last for some time, and others -- I can't vouch for the VdHul Colibri, but who knows?

As to the arm, I've decided to get an extra one, when finances allow -- a VERY user-friendly unipivot, hopefully available for around $ 1k. Hopefully, I'll make do with that & my present arm (I only have ~3000 LPs now, nothing like your collection!)
Cheers

Pretty hard to predict who will be in the analog biz 25 years from now! Consider the SME 20; it's pretty solidly built and you can keep your tonearm.

I've let this thread sit for some time while I've been checking out the various excellent suggestions you all gave. I am extremely intrigued by the over all concept, design and parts replaceability of the Teres/Redpoint/Galibier cousin (estranged?) companies' products. Has anyone had experience with all of them? Or any two?

I have a Teres 265, thanks partly to the heavy legwork and excellent argumentation of regulars like Twl. Well, actually there's nobody quite like Twl, but you get the idea. He's already made all the cogent arguments, the gist of them being that a Teres/Redpoint/Galibier meets all your criteria to a "T".

Two Teres project participants founded Redpoint because they wanted to push the design and especially the materials further. They subsequently split into Redpoint and Galibier simply due to the geographic distance between the two principals.

All three companies have continued to refine their designs and materials, though in different directions. About the only similarity between them now is their basic reliance on a simple, high mass, non-suspended design that is trivially easy to set up, maintain and repair if necessary.

For absolute stability over the long haul, a Redpoint or Galibier would be very safe choices due to their materials. The top Teres models are made of various exotic hardwoods, which makes them stunningly beautiful and they sound magnificent, certainly better than any suspended deck below $10K by all reports that I've read. Whether that will make them less stable in the long term, only time will tell.

Give these three companies a hard look. You wouldn't be disappointed with a deck from any of them. I've only heard my Teres so can't offer a comparison.

The laser table COMPLETELY DEFEATS the purpose of why we enjoy vinyl as an analog source in the first place. This is just another A/D/A converting unit. And for $20,000 the choices for a complete top notch analog setup are great. Contact between a properly aligned and maintained stylus and vinyl surface does not cause appreciable wear. I have records from the late 60's when I was a kid played on real funky equipment that, once cleaned and played on a moderately nice system, sound excellent still.

My choices for purposes of longevity and sonics
VPI
Linn
SME