Nice review Ed.
I agree that the Rega is good looking, but it always looks best with the mat removed doesn't it?
Not sure I would agree with saying that belt drive was not established in 1977 though.
By then we'd had, starting in 1964, the original AR deck, the thorens td150, td160, td125, td126, the ariston rd11, the linn lp12, the gorgeous trancriptors hydraulic reference, not to mention some classic budget decks from pioneer, the pl12d and from trio the kd1033! Not sure I've scratched the surface either.
I do have to say that I look at my Thorens Td160 with SME 3009 mk2 improved, and it seems you have to pay a vast amount of money to get equivalent build quality today. I suppose they are just not mass market items anymore.