Reason for buying old/classic turntables

We buy 'em cause we like 'em!

I don't have the technical knowledge, tactile skills or financial wherewithal to push against the upward boundaries of the state of the art. So I get as close as I can by leveraging "bang for the buck". In turntables I have found that goal best served by the use of high end vintage drive systems. I'm not sure the same can be accomplished with tonearms but my EPA 100 does very well and it was already on the table. Even if this stuff isn't as good as the very best of modern product, the fact that we are even having this debate proves that they are worthy contenders.

If you would rather have a new state of the art table and can afford one, I don't mind if you buy it. That Technics SL-1000 MK II for $3000 will wipe the floor with any new table and arm combo costing that much.

Apples to apples - let's keep it real.

Dear friends: +++++ " Also, in his earlier post that I quoted, he stated that comparing the Technics with a number of other top line tables by other audiophiles for the purposes of buying one and selling the other, the Technics was not at a disadvantage. " +++++

IMHO I think that talking about vintage/today TTs a good " road " could be take the vintage one mere like something additonal: a second TT, like with cartridges ( 2-3 cartridges ), and not one over the other because IMHO there is no absolute evidence that one is better than the other.
I think that both alternatives can live together given us the pleasure to enjoy two " different " top quality proposals. Of course that " money " is almost always an issue here.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

I would like to address the DD and vintage TT discussion.

First --always first, to me-- is musicality. I don't care if it's new or yesteryear: if it sounds exquisite, involving, and *Musical* (think of the origin of the word: Muse...) it's for me; if not, out it goes. I want "the gear to disappear."

Second, and slightly technically:bands as drive mechanisms are susceptible to heat, humidity, and sonic vibration, in short to ambient fluctuation and vibration. In a non-listening environment there is continual vibration in the air. We don't feel it because we are accustomed to it. A band drive table has no such luxury: it feels everything, and that *is* transcribed to the table's sonic output. Has to be. Isn't the 'room' abuzz with extra vibrations when music is being played? DD, particularly in a solid plinth that is designed to isolate the TT, eliminates a great deal of ambient interference.

Third: what kind of mechanism is used in cutting recordings? If memory serves, DD is the method of choice. If so, is there something to be said for keeping the reproduction and playback technologies parallel?

Ears are the determinant. We all hear differently: this accounts for about 35% of the variations of opinion on the Gon, as far as I can tell, yet this goes unmentioned. Many people haven't tuned their rooms to an extent sufficient to allow hearing differences in interconnects, let alone turntables, with all the associated esoterica involved in setup, arm and cartridge selection, wires used, and general complementarity of components (I don't use the word synergy for a number of reasons --another discussion) it's very hard to compare one TT with another, particularly in different systems and rooms.
That said, there are great TTs from the past. Alber Porter has proved that to my satisfaction in his threads on Agon. There are also great tables today. Pick your preference, or try a little of each: all it can do is better inform your opinion(s) and we will all benefit from that.

One final point: a great friend and respected audiophile observed that a Technics SP10 Mk whatever in a modern plinth with a contemporary arm and cartridge is not a vintage component. I agree with him: it's a pastiche, or a marriage of parts. That's why there's something to be said for incorporating the best of what's passed and what's presently outstanding. I wonder if we can learn to see beyond our *own* limitations in deference to the music?

Thanks to the former respondents. This has been an interesting thread.