Yamaha GT 2000 vs new SL Need advice.

You might never get a verdict from someone who has hands-on experience with both turntables mannye. Mostly to do with the fact that the total numbers of GT 2000 owners outside of Japan is miniscule. More people have been in outer space than the numbers of GT 2000 owners outside of Japan. Let alone those who have lived with both turntables.

Based on specifications only, these are two very comparable turntables, both with coreless motors that I prefer.

In my opinion, if you have your GT2000 fully restored electronically and then calibrated by one of the rare breed that can do it right, you would be on the same footing with a new SL, and perhaps a few thousand dollars richer for not having purchased a new SL.  One would have to do a careful A/B comparison after that, to choose one over the other.  (I am not qualified to choose one over the other, as I have never heard either.) One person who can do the work for you is JP Jones of Fidelis Analog in NYC. I advise you to contact him.

Question I have is if your looking for that last table why not invest in a newer design that will last longer if they are that similar. I've not heard either table but for the dollars I'm sure there is other out there  you should consider. That said I did also go vintage from a modern design and am listening to more music then I did with the $7000 oracle. I went the garrard 301 route but there is others. 

The GT2000 has already lasted ~30 years. Why would it not last another 30 years with proper care and use? Perhaps the bearing will need attention eventually, if it doesn’t already need it, but otherwise....
I do advocate going through the GT2000 thoroughly from the outset, with new electrolytic capacitors, possibly upgrading transistors, calibration of the drive system, attention to the bearing, etc. I am only guessing that this would still be way cheaper than purchasing a new SL. The great revelation of this thread is that in fact we are NOT living dangerously with vintage direct-drive turntables.

The OP’s question is about choosing between one DD and another DD, whereas you made a paradigm shift by going from a suspended belt-drive to a non-suspended idler-drive. Good choice, by the way.

EDIT. In my remark about not living dangerously, I was thinking of the other thread on direct drive, the "living dangerously" thread. Sorry.

Thanks everyone.  I loved the reference to the other "dangerous" thread which has over 1000 responses! wow.   

As far as other types, I have right now a Music Hall MMF-5 with the Goldring 1012GX mm cart that sounds very nice and a Sony PS-X5 which is still going strong after 40 years.  The Music Hall has the advantage over the Sony but I am pretty sure that's the Goldring kicking the ass of the  Shure M97xE on the Sony and not the turntables.  

I swapped the carts before when there was an even cheaper AT cart on the Sony and there was no contest between the two.  I'm curious if the arm on the Music Hall would like the Shure...  but I digress... 

I think the GT 2000 is the way to go.  At the current time, and at least for the next several years either turntable (GT or SL)  would be the highest fidelity component in the chain.  

The rest of my 2-channel system is vintage Yamaha (CR 2020 and NS 690ii speakers) The receiver will be going out for a total restoration by a Yamaha specialist soon and the speakers have already been worked on by the previous owner.  

The most that will happen is that the 690ii speakers will be replaced by a pair of NS 1000 once I get my hands on a pair.  

Is the new Technics SL1200G in the same league or better than the SP10 Mk2 ? Normally the GT-2000 is pitched against the SP10.

I’ve only owned the Mk2, and I’ve compared it on the same system to a Mk3 and a Denon DP80. To my ears, the Mk3 was a very clear winner vs the other two, and the DP80 nosed out the SP10 MK2. I’ve since acquired experience with two more DD’s, These use coreless motors, the L07D and the TT101. In this respect and in others related to the design goals of their servo systems, platter mass, plinth, etc, these two are different from the first 3 I mention. The L07D and the TT101 seem to challenge the MK3, but they are not better. However, I would and do take either over the DP80 and the MK2. Therefore, I am tending to favor coreless motors, all other things being nearly equal. (The Mk3 has other features that raise up its performance uber alles.) On this basis, I would guess that SL1200G might outperform SP10 Mk2 but not necessarily the GT2000 (1200G and GT2000 do have coreless motors); I would want to audition that comparison for myself.

In the value arena as I search around, the cost for both the 1200G and the GT2000 may not end up being all that different.

 Unless I can find one here in the states, which is unlikely because you practically have to inherit one , the shipping from Japan is upwards of $500. Then àdd to that the refurbishing cost and we will be pretty close to the price of a 1200G.

However. In a few years the 1200 will be selling used for much less than a fully restored 2000 which, if this vinyl revival continues, will IMO keep its value. Plus even if the finished GT has the same cost,  I would still have to spend more money on the SL for a cart.

What gives us audiophilia nervosa.  Have you located a GT2000 in Japan that is for sale?  One good thing in your favor is that the reputable Japanese dealers, either when you go there in person or on eBay, tend to be honest in representing their products. 

Paradoxical to the situation in the USA regarding GT2000s, they are all over the place in Tokyo.  It was evidently a very successful model for Yamaha, back in the day, in that market.  It's much easier to find a GT2000 in Tokyo than to find an SP10, even.  Try "Hifido English", on line.  They very often have a nice one for sale which they will pack and ship to you. And don't buy any of the lesser models; the GT2000 or GT2000L is the way to go.