I recently stumbled across U-Turn Audio, based just outside Boston MA.
Well, to cut a long story short, I ended up ordering a custom Orbit Plus, which arrived last week.
The options I went with, using their 'Orbit builder' page were black plinth, acrylic platter, cork mat and Ortofon OM 5E cartridge. I am a firm believer of the KISS principle, 'Keep It Simple Stupid', and I am very impressed with this turntable.
It is as basic as they come, all manual, absolutely no frills or automation. It is well built, solid and that optional acrylic platter too is quite heavy. The only thing I believe U-Turn can improve upon is the cover. It is a bit 'flimsy' and has a tendency to drop back down unless you really make sure it is all the way up and back. But this has not in any way or form impacted on the overall quality and very good sound coming out of this turntable.
I purposely knocked the plinth quite a few times, quite hard, with my knuckles, no jumping needle, rock steady! And yes, I was playing an older vinyl when I did those tests!

I have run it now for over a week, playing a number of different genres of music, and I cannot fault it!
Again, keep in mind, this is as basic as it gets, but I really like this turntable. Check out U-Turn Audio, you may be surprised!
The photo shows my current setup, which changes all the time. The amp and preamp are my own models, which I custom build to order.
