I had an old Thorens TD 150 MkII. These seem to go for next to nothing these days.
It had an SME 3009 tonearm and a Goldring cartridge, and it sounded phenomenal.
And... it has an automatic speed change. I listen to varying speeds as I have a lot of 12" singles and can't be doing with manual changes.
I thought it too far gone and bought a Rega RP3, was about £570. Really dreadful piece of equipment.
The motor buzzes audibly through the speakers. I took the first one back as I believed it faulty but apparently not, it's just Rega's dismal earth circuit design.
You have to take the platter off to change the speed. Before long, the belt starts slipping on start up.
The lever doesn't lift the arm off the record at the end if you use the felt mat.
The supplied cartridge, the Elys (if an all in one purchase appeals) is rubbish, basically. Slightly bass heavy, warm, poor clarity, poor soundstaging, sounds very, very cheap.
All in all it was pretty poor, and that's supposed to be a five star deck.
Back to the Thorens - a few hours with my dealer and it's working fine. Can't compare like for like since I never had the Goldring on the Rega, I was never going to upgrade and was going to cut my losses with that one. But, it is phenonenal. Has had oil and new belt which was £22 for an original.
As long as you don't mind fiddling with the suspension a bit (three screws, take the bottom off, wind the nuts to tighten/loosen) and you get a good one I'd have said it was money very well spent.
Anyone want a six month old second hand RP3 after all that?