Vintage Turntable Recommendation

I don't like their look either,

here's one I would want more photos/description from seller.

note: like my JVC, many from Japan (not all) are 100v, you need a simple 120/110 voltage convertor, allow +$50. for that

jvc walnut I think

You can add a wood look to Technics and Audio Technica,

get new quartz direct drive, verify features you want, put it in a wood base,

now, or if out of current budget, later.

Thanks for pointing out the add a wood base option...  that was not on my radar

At that price point, I would pick up a vintage Dual (12 series) or Pioneer PL-530.

there are a lot of 80s' Duals out there, including on shopgoodwill.com. Don't be fooled by the price, the sellers who ask $4-500 may have "from estate sale" never tested items that you can buy from original or second owners for under $250. There are also decent Pioneer, Marantz and Denon vintage turntables at the $300 pricepoint.

If it were me, I'd look for a new vintage looking turntable.

How does this $500 AT look? 

Thanks all for giving me some more options to look into.

How about an AR table? Perfect match with your vintage Allison's. If you like to tinker, these are great plinths/motors to start with. Abundant mods and better arm choices.

I highly recommend that you do some research on the KENWOOD KD-650. I have one that luckily works flawlessly. I have a DS-Audio DS E1 cartridge and transformer. Keep an eye out, you might find one go up for sale. 

Over OP's Budget, but an interesting find

Pioneer PL-540

OP

For fun, I check Hifishark.com every day (one of my automatically opening pages) my default search is usually: Turntable

filtered by 'first seen, new first', see just added items, jump on something.

I put $ limit, Always check above the budget, you want to know what you/they might have if you go a bit above your budget..

You can filter by USA (your country) only, Canada only. I wish I could exclude yahoo listings sometimes, just to shorten the list.

Next, for any friend looking for anything, I change the search, to 'tube preamp' for example

Marantz 6100, CAD 450 = $330. usd

Slightly over budget would be a Thorens TD145/TD145 MKII in good condition.

The MKII has a different arm with a removable wand and both have auto lift @ end of play.

A cheaper oddball would be a Philips GA312 (auto lift and a removable cartridge sled).

These are difficult to find in good refurbished condition, but they do come up on occasion (they sound good if set up properly and have an interesting look, but are not good with footfalls).

This said, the SL1700 was a popular deck when I moved to the West Coast in the late 70's and I recall them sounding quite good (the draw was that stoners liked the auto lift).

DeKay

I'd be searching for a Vintage Audio shop and see what they have in stock

 Those are some very nice suggestions. This website should give you some inspiration of what can be done artfully.
Turntable restorations
Enjoy the Music

BicycleJoe
 

Back the an AR turntable was like $75 bucks $100 with a Shure M97 cart...nice turntable and cartridge. 

Might be of help.

fixmydual.com

It is very possible that some of the newer "budget" turntables will outperform the vintage tables.