OK, am leaning now towards a planar 3! In the meantime can anybody suggest a second hand option in the below £500 category as an alternative?
Planar3 ;0)
AR Turntable. A later Legend or EB101 as they are easier to fit arms etc to.
Systemdek. A few variants but sounds good with either a Linn or Rega arm.
With all these old decks it's about condition. A lot of old Linn arms are shagged, Rega arms are almost indestructible. A worn main bearing won't help the sound.
My pick is the Systemdek. You should get a good one for £250 ish. The AR will be less but it's a softer sound. Still a good turntable though.
There are other options but these are the ones that come up a lot as they were big sellers.