What do you mean you “heard” the turntable

nandric

The TT's are not supposed to ''sound'' so if one hears sound differences those should be ascribed to the records.

No audio component is completely transparent, and that's especially true with turntables, pickup arms and phono cartridges. Turntables most definitely have a "sound" to them, even if they're designed to be neutral.

@bdp24  I find most magazine reviews and reviewers to be next to useless for evaluation purposes, the UK ones doubly so. Poor methodology, watered down criticism, flavour of the month recommendations, editorial constraints etc leave them barely fit for entertainment purposes.

Online reviewers have many advantages. Here's one of the better ones, HiVinNiws channel.

https://youtu.be/ogiWnw5X0ZI

For me, the sitting of the deck is the most important factor. With good placement even a budget deck can yield good results, and then there's the old stylus assembly super glue trick. 

Amazing how seemingly large differences suddenly start closing up after a little care and attention. 

As for magazine reviewers, I would never trust them after leading us up so many blind alleys - the sorry speaker spikes fiasco being one of the worst. Talk about the blind leading the blind, these self appointed dabblers in pseudoscience are regularly corrected by the readership. At least those they dare to print.

It's good to see reason prevail and some manufacturers now also offering decoupling rubber cones in addition to the regular (but misguided) steel spikes.

Whart,

your experience is valid, but  only because you are comparing with in your system with all other variables being equal. 

 My problem is people on this form say they were here or there and they heard a turntable on a completely different system in a completely different place and they say how much more transparent or how much more clear or clean or better bass or whatever. How can they be sure of what they are hearing. To me they’re hearing what they wanna hear.  I’m not saying what they are hearing is not better than what they have heard but they can’t contribute, for sure, what aspect made the sound better so how can they so easily recommend something under these conditions? 

@last_lemming - I agree that it is very hard to find an opportunity at retail where you can make such comparisons. I don't read the magazines much any more, so I don't know what they are doing in terms of turntable evaluations.
There was a very good shoot-out a number of years ago in HiFi+ on line stages where Roy G. and Alan Sircom compared 5 or 6 units, did in-depth reviews and second opinions and that seemed pretty 'spot on' as the Brits say. I owned one of the units being tested -(not the actual unit under test but another serial number of the same model) and the review seemed to match my experience in terms of the unit's strengths and weaknesses.
As for turntable comparisons, I suppose the best resource for this may be that handful of well-heeled audiophiles who run multiple tables, arms and cartridges. There have been 'visits' by other audiophiles on the forums where they discussed what they heard and posted about it. And, to the extent there is some bias by one person, perhaps that gets ironed out when multiple listeners are involved.  

Unless the comparisons are done in a known system and lived with for a period of time with the ability to go back and forth between the tables being reviewed the comparisons really aren't vallid, another words what @whart  said. Also on the Stillpoints LPS he hit it on the head, I find myself going back and fourth between it an a BDR screw down clamp depending on the album I am playing. As a rule, when the upgrade bug bites and it is a piece I love, I never sell it till I have lived with the new piece and satisfied it is an upgrade.