New Turntable Direction

At this level and for an experienced spinner, look at table and arm as two separate components. It sure looks like you have a terrific phono stage and cartridge. A new table and arm makes more sense to me than pouring $6k into a Linn. A Linn that by the way has to be worth a decent amount of money. So you are really looking at a $10k table/arm, right? That's close to Origin Live Conqueror territory for the arm, and still plenty left for a table.

Since you mentioned Garrard, I remember when my father bought one in the mid 60"s when seperates became popular.  I forgot to mention that I still have a Elac Miracord 750 III with a Shure Cartridge that I'm going to dust off tonight and go down memory lane.

+1 for a refirbed Garrard 301/401. Ever since I heard that late legendary record company owner/producer Winston Ma used his 301 as the source for one of his great Gold Label CDs, I have been searching for a good rebuilt 301. Finally found a great one. A Woodsong 301 with a period appropriate arm-the Ortophon 309.
I absolutely love it with my Myajima Shalabi. You may be able to find a good used one as I did although you will have to be patient. But since you have a cool Linnie, you should be able to find one. I prefer the look and feel of the 301 more than the 401 but that is not much of an issue. IMO the Gerrard just has a drive and pace beyond almost any for not much money relatively. And it certainly would be a different presentation from the Linn.

The title of your thread got me wondering...  How many turntable models run counter-clockwise?