It depends what you are looking for. Good quality and convience, the older automatic dd tables could fit that category especially the longivity of those tables. For me, a great table is one that you do not realize its there when the music is playing. Imo, high mass is part of the equation. I have been experimenting with the maplenoll tables compared to my michell over the past couple of years and find the maplenoll comes closer to my definition of a great table. As I have found one of the maplenoll tables that have the heavier plinth and platter (about 150 lbs of mass) i will be able to compare two heavy mass tables to see how much extra the mass brings to the quality.
What makes for a "great" turntable?
I know that the cartridge, tonearm, phono pre-amp and other upstream components make records clearly sound different, but what is it about different turntables themselves (cartridge and tonearm excluded) that affects the sound? I would guess isolation from external vibrations and rotational accuracy. After this, what else is there that makes a great $30000 turntable sound better than say a much lower priced "good" table?
Also, how significant is the table itself to the resulting sound compared to the other things, ie tonearm, cartridge, phono pre-amp, etc?
Also, how significant is the table itself to the resulting sound compared to the other things, ie tonearm, cartridge, phono pre-amp, etc?