Technics 1200g vs Rega rp8, VPI aries, avenger, Basis 2000, Linn LP12 etc. Can it compete?

kind of unsettling that the prime requires a speed controller to compete with the G.  

There are not many turntables that compete with the G in speed accuracy.  In fairness, unless you are comparing two TTs with one being super accurate and the other off a tiny bit, this factor is really not very important for all practical purposes for most users.  For years I had a Thorens TD125MKII that had a built in strobe and I thought it was spot on.  It wasn't really, which I learned only by comparing it to much more precise TTs later, but truth to tell it didn't affect my enjoyment of listening to music on that TT over a long period (years and years) of contentment.  In fact I would be happy to listen to it still.  Sometimes we let trivial things get blown out of proportion to their true importance.  Let's admit that vinyl is an imperfect medium, but it offers tremendous rewards for those of us who work with it.  We just have to remember to have fun and not lose perspective.

Bill I was talking about your tables and your comparisons. 

I was bringing it up again on purpose. Why? Basically for the exactly  point in your last post. 

This is suppose to be fun. If you are willing to spend any amount to get the last degree out of your collection go for it. I just think that at some point these differences and "upgrades" hit a point of severe diminishing returns and sometimes that is lost in the discussion. I know before I had heard several turntables I would have never thought the differences would be so small to my ears by reading the forums (yes I understand this is a personnel thing). 

I will just suggest this..... If you are serious about spending $$$$ on a turntable go out and buy a craiglist Technics turntable for 250-550. Put a decent cart on it (nothing crazy). 

Take it and put it directly against a $$$$ turntable in the same system. Then compare. If you hear the clogging or hear something horrible in the 1200 fair enough. It will inform you of what diminishing returns sound like and maybe just give you a jumping off point on how much you are willing to drive in. 

The reason that I am choosing the 1200G as my last table over the vpi prime is that as I get older, the less that I want to fiddle with something like the prime. 

Take replacing a cartridge for instance. On the 1200 you can remove the head shell, which for those among us that have bad vision to begin with, is a huge benefit. With the vpi you have to basically work by feel. Then adjusting VTA on the 1200 seems to be far more elegant than on the vpi tables. Plus no screwing around with side weights, etc.

When I reach my 70s, all I want to have to do is put on a head shell, adjust VTF and maybe VTA, crank up the tunes and smoke some weed. I don't want to have to deal with something more complicated than that. 

It also seems that to get a vpi to the sound quality level as the 1200g, you need to spend money on upgrades. Isn't the vpi already expensive enough?