SOTA NOVA, HR-X VPI, Technics 1200G recommendations?

Ralph is a mentor to me so I hate to correct him and I do so with trepidation, but stylus velocity is not a determinant of skating force. Just saying.

It is so great to have people with long histories in this great hobby and also the phenomenal memories of what went down long before I got interested in a "stereo system."

Lots of great info & history here 👍

FWIW, the TK850M would not fit the Technics 1200 but no doubt the 9” TK850S would as long as you could find one.  Conical/spherical styli not recommended for shorter tonearms.
As noted (& IMO), the Technics is ultimately only as good as its record mat. A stellar deck when you get it right and an easy recommendation.

@lewm, I think there might be some confusion here. I think, correct me if I am wrong the you are refering to groove speed which slows down towards the center of the record. That does not affect friction and skating much. Groove velocity refers to the distance the stylus has to travel in the groove. In a more heavily modulated groove the stylus has to travel farther but never in a straight line. The stylus has to keep changing direction which takes energy. Thus as the groove velocity increases friction and skating increase and the groove becomes progressively harder to track. This is why skating is so hard to peg. It keeps changing with modulation (groove velocity)

I used to be a die hard belt drive guy.  Ever since using the 1200G, they all seem like they are missing something.  Unless you spend say 20K for a good belt drive, they lack the the bite that is in real music that the direct drive and its speed stability and torque seem to provide.  Many belt drives seem smoothed over in overall sound reproduction.  It's all in what you like for sound.  IMO the 1200G just offers a lot for the money.  You can always put a different arm on if you so choose but for me, the stock is fine.