JVC made a high-end DD table that solved all the issues people worry about regarding SQ and automation - the QL-A7. It was equal to or better than the offerings from Technics and Denon (except it lacked the very cool Denon plinths). JVC designed the table so there was no mechanism to interfere with the tonearm's performance while playing the record, and nothing to service. The JVC tonearms were also longer than most, with lower tracking error to better support cartridges using the then new Shibata stylus shape, required to decode CD-4 Quad recordings, and which was then as now, very sensitive to tracking error. You may want to consider finding a good used or rebuilt QL-A7.
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?