sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
I also looked at the similarly priced Technics, they were all great, but the LP12 stole my heart.
If I were going to buy a deck for looking at, the Sondek would definitely be high on my list, especially an old fluted one with a black skirt. My Sondek is definitely my prettiest deck. In the end, that's probably why I fell for it as a teenager, and it's probably why I still have it 40 years later.
Visually it's a design masterpiece. The problem with hifi is that you have to look at it. Looks matter. How much of the TAS article was devoted to how it looks?