Reason for buying old/classic turntables

The analogy with vintage automobiles is restricted to cosmetics only. Contemporary cars are much more evolved than the old ones, or aren't they? Contemporary turntables are not better per se than the vintage ones. Of course classic cars are very very nice (more elegant cosmetics than the modern ones). I think my Mercedes-Benz 500E looks better than the W210 series (with the ridiculous oval headlights).

Chris

Some of the 60's/early 70's era cars are among the fastest automobiles ever built.

They oversteered, didn't handle worth a sh**, cornered terribly, and often needed repair.

But using massive amounts of torque, horsepower, and gasoline they went straight ahead very quickly.

From a technical perspective, they are dinosaurs.

My 1969 muscle car gets 6mpg (on a good day).

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there are a lot of audio companies that are putting more effort into building a good turntable than the Big Three put into building a good car. Have you driven a Dodge Stratus lately? Yeesh!

Sota in the hi-fi. Honda in the garage.

I know what you mean Lew. My stock plinthed Lenco beat my other table hands down. True, nothing like what you had, but still. I'm not 100% convinced that one has to mount the Lenco in a "giant direct coupled" plinth. After cleaning, lubing and bolting the top plate directly to the stock plinth, I used my GF's stethoscope to listen. It was dead quiet, except for one area on the left side of the plinth, closest to the motor. And then, it wasn't very noisey. No noise on the top plate anywhere. I do have some ideas about making some mods to the stock plinth to add more mass. I'm not going to cut on the top plate of this deck. It is literally a strong 8 or 9/10 AG rating, and it would just be wrong to do so. Who knows, years down the road, I may have the only non-cut Lenco...
:-)

Kinda like cutting on a '59 vette. Just ain't right...... Now, there's a vintage car I would love to be able to afford.

There are moments, when driving a late 50's Porsche at 9/10ths, when you're in the groove, that really can't be equalled and certainly not beaten by any modern sports car, even a modern Porsche. Something has been lost, just like in the LP vs CD comparison. Modern cars are heavier and have those big fat tires which give a less pleasant ride quality than the old dangerous skinny tires on old sports cars. In my Spyder at 90 mph in a drift you almost felt like you were floating on air in the best fun ride possible. Can an idler or a dd table from yesteryear provide an analogous unique experience that gets you closer to the music? I think maybe yes, with the generous application of modern ideas on plinths, tonearms, cartridges thrown into the mix.