Breakdown of Turntable Performance

Arm: 33.33%

Cartridge: 33.33% 

Table: 33.33%

or 

Pressing quality: 50%

Everything else: 50%
 

Briggs and Stratton - VERY good, Uberw.

The requirements for the turntable depend on quality of the cartridge it has to serve.  I was very happy with my at-lp1240 til I had my AKG P8ES Supernova upgraded with a boron cantilever.  The upgrade made a huge difference in responsiveness, but the byproduct was the direct drive motor noise became much more noticeable once the stylus hit the vinyl.  It wasn't a problem for me before.  I'm now looking for a belt driven turntable so I can enjoy the cartridge more.

My brain can only grasp what sounds good to my ears.  I have a 30+ year old Technics SL-1600MK2 with Ortofon Blue in my rec room and a one year old Technics SL-1200G with Ortofon Quintet Black in my listening room.

At first, I had the Blue on the 1200G.  It sounded pretty good.  I then bought the Black.  All other things being equal (record, phono preamp, etc.), I'm sure I don't have to tell you which one sounds waaaaaay better.

All this turntable talk and no love for the Well Tempered concept?
Chatter-free viscous damped platter bearing, chatter-free viscous damped tonearm bearing, physically isolated motor?  WT has 'em all.  I bought the original WTT/TA in 1988 after owning an LP12, a Technics SP-12 w/AT tonearm, and a SOTA Sapphire with a Premier FT3.  I found it to be superior to all of them in quiet no-stress sound and operation, incredibly static-free in the dry months, and have never even thought of replacing it.  I now run a vintage Grace F9 Ruby with low hours in it after using a van Den Hul MC10 for most of its life.  Look into their Amadeus.