I only use a tonearm lifter (I use the Audio Technica version which is much less expensive than the little fwend and does precisely the same thing) because the noise at the runout groove is too jarring after the music stops playing. Also, I would never leave a record on the platter once it's done playing, so what benefit would there be to this scenario? Of course, this is all at a spry 56 years and I might well feel differently when and if I'm less mobile.
Why hasnt a turntable manufacturer produced a table with automatic tonearm return/shutoff?
I'm listening to my old Technics 1700 turntable, which has the tonearm return/ shutoff mechanism. It's one of the reasons I don't upgrade. The idea that you have to get up to retrieve the cartridge and turn off the machine makes little sense when the technology has been there for years. I know the issue of the mechanism introducing sound into the table, but it seems to me that the mechanism can be isolated and kept off until the record ends. What gives?