Direct Drive TT...vintage era....sleepers....

The JVC QL7 may indeed be “demonstrably better” than the equivalent Technics or Denon, but, if they’re likened to the QL7, they’d be in the category of mediocre, compared to the best of the vintage Japanese DD TTs. The QL7 itself is far from the best JVC. Anyway, this thread is 13 years old.

The Technics tables have already been "discovered", but like others have said, I would look for the better Pioneer, Kenwood, Victor, Sony, and Denon tables. IMO, they are all "sleepers" and still quite affordable. (Well, maybe the Sony and Denon products have already been recognized for their performance and are priced accordingly.) The Vintage Knob website could give you some hints at what models to look for. Plus, T_bone knows them all. I particularly like the looks and build quality of the Pioneer dd tables.

Violin, The Micro is an excellent set-up, but I would say that the value of that tonearm puts the combo out of the "budget" category for many, and the 505 is hardly undiscovered. None of this matters to your enjoyment, of course.