[Whart]

I remember using most of the TTs mentioned, back in the day. The TD 125Mk II was, in stock incarnation, probably the best; the Garrard 301 looked antiquated by the early 70's and had rumble issues, at least in the condition most of them were in by then. The Empire 598 was built like a bank vault, but the arm seemed very stodgy. I know that the rebuilt Garrard 301s are highly regarded- that Artisan Fidelity redo is gorgeous. Other period tables were the Goldmunds, which were pretty cool in the 80's, and the EMTs, which you see for sale occasionally (not cheap). I still have an old Panasonic SP 10 that I bought new, when the thing was not called 'Technics' yet and was offered in the same brochure as blenders and vacuum cleaners. (*Correction, I think this is the original, not a MkII, I bought in circa 1973?)
I had a Well-Tempered for a long time and it served me well, using a Lyra Parnassus, various Grados and a Van de Hul.
Among more modern tables, the one I had experience with that was reasonably priced used was the Kuzma Reference- not the big XL (which I currently use), but the more conventional looking table that had a wonderful suspension, was easy to set up and sounded great with a modern arm.
On VTA, I hate to admit it, but it does make a difference, although you can drive yourself crazy if you get too carried away. It's not easy to tweak from my TT's position away from the listening seat, but my arm allows easy, resettable VTA adjustments and if you bother, it does make a difference, even on a cartridge that is not terribly critical of VTA.