What makes for a "great" turntable?

Recently I went on eBay and ended up buying a Beogram 4500 with MMC-2 cartridge, both NIB. This table is a suspended design and while I was somewhat nervous about that, I have ended up being very pleased with this table to the point that I now use it exclusively. IMO it's not as good sonically as the non-suspended Scheu Premier I own, but it's darn close.

I think what has really surprised me about the Beogram 4500 is that I now spin more LPs than when the Scheu was in use. The Beogram has a linear tracking arm that just requires you plug in the cartridge and set VTF. Pitch is easy to set and has been pretty stable. One button cues the arm and drops the stylus down, then auto lift returns it at the end of the side. No issues with cartridge/arm matching, VTA, azimuth, etc.

I think the biggest hoot though is the built in RIAA equalizer so just plug the attached phono cable RCA ends into an open line input on the preamp. I was a little skeptical about the RIAA equalizer but everything is quiet and the sound is very good. To my surprise Peter at Soundsmith confirmed for me that the design of the RIAA equalizer is actually pretty good.

So while there may be better designs from a technical perspective, musically this is the greatest designed turn table I have ever owned. It's user friendly, sounds great, and is fun. As others have said, if it makes you enjoy the music...

There was a interview with A.J. Conti from Basis Audio in TAS I think.
He says it all.

Three things make it great: transient speed stability, isolation from external vibration, and ability to drain off internal vibration generated by motor & platter bearing. Few turntables get all three things right, and some of the top models that do, succeed by addressing the problem with an integrated plinth and rack system.

clio...friggin great stereo...fyi, I lived with beautiful goldman studio(which cost more than the car i drove at the time)along with my humble oracle paris, and my thorens jubilee. considering what i paid for it, it (in practical terms)cost me about 250 bucks everytime i played an lp. between that, and a neverending battle to make it sound superior to my blue collar tables, i gave up and sold it. eventually got a nice car though.

It depends what you are looking for. Good quality and convience, the older automatic dd tables could fit that category especially the longivity of those tables. For me, a great table is one that you do not realize its there when the music is playing. Imo, high mass is part of the equation. I have been experimenting with the maplenoll tables compared to my michell over the past couple of years and find the maplenoll comes closer to my definition of a great table. As I have found one of the maplenoll tables that have the heavier plinth and platter (about 150 lbs of mass) i will be able to compare two heavy mass tables to see how much extra the mass brings to the quality.