What makes for a "great" turntable?

It is my belief that the price asked does not always indicate the quality of the turntable, or any other component for that matter. What does make some products standout from others is the philosophy of their designs. Everyone knows that the audio chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If you have a great system, but with a bad tube in the amp you get a poor result. The same goes for a turntable or any other component. Each piece in the audio chain has to be looked at as an entity in itself. A turntable that would be stellar overall may fall down when a compromise exists which would lessen the intent of its design. It is the same with a speaker, an amp, a tonearm, or whatever. That's the rub because a product in a line that doesn't have maximum attention to detail, or was intentionally made to a lesser price point, often overlooks some aspect that would otherwise strengthen the overall design, hence the weak link in the chain. The problem with all this is the price tag you're going to see when everything is done right to an OCD level. Suddenly, that $5,000 system becomes a $150,000 one. Sure the turntable is a part of it, but it doesn't stop there. Any piece of a top system needs such attention or the result is compromised. That's why a $30,000 turntable is usually better, and that's why a $30,000 preamp is usually better. The same goes for any component. The caveat is that some of those products somehow manage to miss the mark for whatever reason. All you can do, assuming you have the price of admission, is make judgments based on common sense, your ears and careful research. All that said, an item on the extreme of high-end audio can be good enough that it will immediately be apparent to even the casual listener that he is hearing something very special. Unfortunately, one that doesn't meet the standard stands out like a sore thumb at this level of system performance.

Mapman,
You got it right with your second sentence, and Swampwalker said it a different way. But most important in all of this is to have fun listenin-ta-rekkids, and part of having fun is not stressing about it, so I agree that for many listeners, autolift is a great feature. The number one difference between a $30,000 table and a very well-designed table purchased used for 80% less is... well... $24,000. Usually that also means something in the looks and bragging rights department, but I don't need a work of art to listen-ta-my-rekkids.

more than ever,it would appear that a turntable's price is somewhat 'contingent' on how 'tall' it is, and how its 33&1/3 rpms is better than the other guy's 33&1/3 rpms (those at a lower elevation). many i know with a house- full of records(literally) couldn't tell me(of the top of their head) what the model number of their table is, or the make(and year purchased) of their cartridge . in most cases, it's a garden variety panasonic or dual, and after 30 or 40 years its still spinning at 33&1/3 just fine. I guess that makes for a 'great' turntable.

Thanks for keeping it real jaybo.

Okay after 50 years in this hobby and having owned more turntables than most members. Back in analogs golden day the tables of choice were Dual and Thorens and many of those survive to this day.But Dual and Thorens now are mere ghosts of what they once were.

However for the last 25 years or so have been firmly entrenched in the VPI line up of turntables. The reason for me is quite simple. The VPI turntables are well thought out, superb construction and parts and most of all service is just a phone call away, plus they have a firm dealer network. Another plus is the clear upgrade path that VPI tables have, when one wants to move their existing VPI to another level, without having to buy another new turntable or start over again with something else.

Yes I continue to evaluate other brands that come through here such as Project,MMF series,Clearaudio,Sota, and others. This is not to disparage those brands, but none of those have for me the overall comfort level of the VPI brand.

If push came to shove, the only other turntable out there I would go for is the Simon Yorke turntables. A friend of mine has the S 7 and this is in my opinion the finest turntable I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. Each time I visit him I am just totally mesmerized by the outright musicality of the Simon Yorke. I have never heard anything in turntables that can touch the S 7. But that level of excellence does not come on the cheap. And the rest of your system must be up to the task of running an extreme turntable such as a Simon Yorke.

For me the VPI brand offers the best of all parameters that I seek. Is there better out there? Sure there is and it will cost your dearly to move into that realm