I need your help. I have an ARC Ref 3, ARC 110, Vandersteen 5As, but no turntable.

FWIW, if you have the old idler, it can be rebuilt by Russell Industries on the east coast:
http://russellind.com/downl.htm
The PRB catalog is the old Projector Recorder Belt company that was located in Whitewater Wisconsin prior to Russell Ind. buying them out. Their work is excellent BTW; I've had them rebuild idlers and pro audio tape recorder pinch rollers a number of times. You need a lot of precision with 1" wide pinch rollers!

Nkonor who is Ralph?

@jaym759 that's me.

One more thing. Tonearm cable. It is the most important cable in the chain, again don't save on it and don't rush with the choice.

If you run balanced, then the cable will impose far less artifact. I agree its the most important cable in the system. You get that bit wrong, the best amps and speakers can't fix it.

@inna 

Ralph always says direct drive Technics, that's his preference, which is fine.

We've been making a belt drive machine for about 20 years. It is very neutral but the Technics is less expensive and I think its a better machine and even includes a tone arm! I make money on the sales of our turntable, but I don't think I'll be selling any since the advent of the new Technics.

Regarding the phono section:
A good phono section will reduce the number of ticks and pops you hear without curtailing bandwidth.
An excellent turntable to consider is the Technics SL1200G. IMO its weakness is its arm, but its arm is competitive with many high end audio tonearms. But if you want to put a better arm on it, it can be done. The 'table part is very nearly state of the art- the platter is damped, the plinth is rigid and damped, and the platter is one of the most speed stable made anywhere at any price.

Regarding arms and cartridges: the ability of the arm to track the cartridge is far more important than the choice of cartridge! So pay attention to that compatibility aspect and you will be rewarded.