Bay...Jump in by all means. I appreciate your feedback and point of view as you have clearly restored many a vintage table. I think your argument makes perfect sense. I knew the question was too broad and not easily answerable and as to the logic of getting a vintage table from the heyday of analog playback when a lot of companies were plowing R&D dolalrs to make that playback the best it can be, also makes a lot of sense. But for those of us who do not have the mechanical chops or the patience to personally restore a beaten up vintage player, my guess is you will quickly come up to that $1,200+ level in getting a restored vintage table. Many threads on the net on restorations of various Thorens, Lenco and Garrard tables but once you start seeing the restoration fees, the nice custom plinths, and new tonearms placed on these tables, you are quickly in $3-5K teritory, easy. Which then begs the question, spend $3-5K on a very nicely restored vintage tt or get a current table from VPI, Clearaudio, etc...Again, there is probably no answer to the question and it really depends on each individual table and what you are comparing it to.
Thanks for your thoughts