What was the best receiver turntable all in one system?

The Benjamin compacts were very nice but IIRC they didn't actually offer the hysteresis motor in the combo system turntables so they were just Model 50 changers rather than 50H. While indeed very good units I think probably the best very high priced all-in-one compact phono system was the Marantz unit which could be custom fitted with a Miracord 50H, Garrard SL-95B or Dual turntable (customer ordered the unit with the appropriate cutout on the top plate). The Scott was probably just about the best "affordable" unit, especially when fitted with a small chassis Dual on top (usually we see the mediocre Garrard 3000 / Pickering combo on there). The Sony / Dual models were top notch combos as well.

This one does have one thing which I think doesn't qualify as a compact in the full sense. It began with a Marantz receiver (The Model 26). The turntable was not offered on all of these built. It was optional and dealer installed on this one. So, it can or can't be an all in one, it came both ways, most were not all in ones. Your point about the Benjamin is good, but even a plain 50 was still largely top of the line, and the amplifier in it still the most powerful in a true all in one model, the Marantz is most often found as a receiver only.
 
Sometime in the late seventies, Sony produced a cheap black plastic modular stereo with matching plastic speakers that was touted to be the rival of far more expensive systems. All three pieces, turntable / receiver unit and speakers, had a sort of futuristic, aerodynamically tapered shape. Despite appearances, it sounded considerably better than your typical BSR-equipped pile of chrome-plated plastic department store crap, with slightly more lower-register competence than you'd expect from such a thing, due to halfway decent little woofers and small, tightly sealed "acoustic suspension" enclosures with thick, decently well-damped, low-resonance back covers. Minimal-material engineering at its finest. Rather than fabric, the grilles were molded into the plastic, and looked like the louvers on a motel air conditioner. The record player was belt driven, if recall serves. I also vaguely remember that the audio output stages were of the big fat heatsinked hybrid IC variety with the prefix "STR-something." It was quite unusual looking, bordering on sophisticated for its era. The sort of thing you'd buy if you were a Bang & Olufsen aficionado but only had a burger-flipper's paycheck to blow.

I have scoured the web for pictures, using every search term I could think of, to zero avail. Do any of you other old farts who were 20-something in the seventies remember what I'm talking about?
 
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