Hi Duff,
Yes, I reviewed quite a few turntables but not in recent years. I can give you a few general guidelines and some specific comments on a few models. I'm not familiar at all with the Music Hall line.
Rega has been around for years, and seems to offer fair value in a simple, belt-drive turntable with a nicely designed Rega tonearm. Whether you decide on a moving-coil (MC) or moving-magnet (MM) cartridge, it's prudent to check the combo in a retail store for hum shielding. Some older Regas had poor shielding of their motors so that as you moved the tonearm towards the center grooves, the cartridge picked up AC hum from the turntable motor. This is something you can check in a store if a demo model is set up and working. Hum pickup is especially critical with MC cartridges. By the way, hum pickup is also a function of the cartridge's own shielding as well. Some are poorly shielded.
These comments apply to any turntable, not just Rega. Motor and cartridge shielding varies from one brand to another.
You might find a good used Linn or Ariston--both Scottish belt-drive turntables of excellent calibre. I know someone who found a used Ariston at a yard sale in Toronto for $25. It was in excellent condition. Lots of people think they'll continue to play LPs but never do and eventually get rid of their turntables.
Belt-drive turntables all generate about 0.1% wow and flutter (no matter what their manufacturers claim), which is audible on any piano recordings with long sustained piano chords. But it's only audible if you listen for it, and I don't advise you to learn how to hear wow and flutter, as I did, because then you can never listen to piano recordings again on a belt-drive turntable! The rumble figures on many belt-drive 'tables are usually about -70 dB, which is largely inaudible on most material. Direct-drive systems generally produce inaudible rumble that's barely measurable--about -80 dB or better.
The only turntables capable of playing piano recordings without audible flutter are direct-drive systems like the Technics SL-1200 or a few models from Denon. The flutter from these units typically measures about 0.01%, far less (one-tenth) than any belt-drive system. However, the integrated tonearms supplied with these models are rather massive, and only so-so. They're fine for lots of recordings but you can't align them as well as a custom tonearm in order to get the best performance from an expensive cartridge.
If you get into record collecting, you may want a turntable with a 45 rpm or 78 rpm speed capability. Not many offer this, so check it out if that's important to you. Some excellent direct-to-disc LPs were cut at 45 rpm.
But do check hum pickup no matter what model you look at.
Regards,
