[vinyleater]

I came into a Technics SL-1500 direct drive turntable, Mark I version, for $80.  It needed repairs to the cuing mechanism--a new "O" ring and grease filler--and the speed control pots cleaned.  And it still needs to be cleaned up from years of dusty storage.  But it's basically back in working condition.  This is a pretty heavy beast; it surprised me the first time I went to pick it up.  I haven't gotten a cartridge set up on it yet.  Who else is using one of these and with what cartridge?  I am excited to get it going again.

[SteveFord]

If no one here chimes in perhaps you'll have more luck in the Vinyl Circle.

[S Clark]

I have the big brother of the Sl-1500, the SP-10mkII, and I think they share quite a bit of technology.  The cartridges that I've been happy with on the SP10 are the Denon 102 (mono), the Dynavector 10X5, and the Ortofon Quintet Red.  The only one that I thought did not work well was an ADC XLM-II.  That's about the limit of my knowledge... as you can see, I'm not a big cartridge swapper.
BTW, you stole that TT. Nicely done.

[Phil_S]

According to the Vinyl Engine database that unit cost $350 in 1975, that's $1,500 today.  I'd say that's a great deal in working condition.  Some of the commentary I've read indicates there may be issues with speed stability.  With the table being 40 years old there may be issues with components out of spec, bad capacitors, etc.

Any medium compliance cartridge should work well with the arm.  Shure M97, AT 120e, Ortofon Blue, etc...