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

Mijostyn, no matter what you may “think” and no matter what is your opinion, “velocity” and “speed” are not synonymous. We, all of us, may use them as such, but when we do so we are being sloppy, in a convenient sort of way. Why are we even arguing about this? It has nothing much to do with anything substantial. the fact is that if you are going to talk about what is going on with a stylus in a groove, then it does become important to distinguish between velocity and speed. The reason the speed is changing up and down as the stylus negotiates the groove is because the groove necessitates rapid changes in direction. Changes in direction are what distinguishes velocity from speed.

@chungjh any progress?

Speed and velocity can be confusing for one reason the units are the same- ft/sec, miles per hour, or m/s.  For example when driving your car you might maintain a constant speed through a curve and your speedometer shows that your speed is unchanging.  Your velocity, however is changing as evidenced by the sideways pull you experience in your seat.  A change in velocity is acceleration.  Acceleration is a force.  That’s what you feel in your seat as you steer your car through a curve.  The stylus experiences those same forces as it gets pulled through the wavy grooves of a record.  

I know @lewm , I'm just pulling your leg. The more heavily the grove is modulated the higher will be the groove velocity. Speed is determined where the stylus is on the diameter of the record. It slows as you mve towards the center. Yes, at higher velocities might have to change directions more often and more vigorously but this is frequency and modulation dependent. Obvious the skating force increases at higher groove velocities because the stylus assembly has mass and changing directions faster increases drag proportionally. One could say that friction increases but  drag would probably be the more appropriate term as friction does not change skating much but drag does. 

An update. I just got Technics 1200G and a slightly used Lyra Etna SL. In the process of setting up. I will update once I get a feel for the sound.