Turntable upgrade recommendations: SME vs AMG vs Technics vs other

@mijostyn

I ended up having to ship my Rega P8 to Mt Kisco, NY for evaluation, to David and Alma at Accent on Music. They are very kind and helpful people. They were going to evaluate my TT regardless of expectations. Fortunately for them, my Rega cartridge had failed in one channel, and I needed a new cartridge. (Mind you, this cartridge probably had less than 100 hours on it.) I purchased a $2,000 Linn Krystal cartridge from them, largely since they recommended it, and paid them for their labor as well, so I hope that they made out well .. . which brings me to this thread, as I have probably put 200 hours on the Linn cartridge since I got it back in September, and so my interest in analog is piqued, and I am consequently looking to upgrade even more!

...and it looks like Accent on Music carries Orotofon, so I think I'll be calling them to purchase the MC Verismo when the time comes. 

"Another issue I am noticing frequently is on more recordings than not the space in between instruments and voices is quieter. Some would say "blacker" but, they really mean quieter. With analog playback there is more ...fuzziness around the edges of many recordings. On the other hand many of the older records were mastered on substandard systems resulting in amplitude and sound stage errors when played back on a good system. When that happens it is easy for the remasters to shine."

Are you here comparing old vinyl to new vinyl (re-issues) or hi-rez digital to vinyl, or what?  The idea that "many of the older records were mastered on substandard systems" that result in "amplitude and sound stage errors" strikes me as not supported by any data.  Just your aural impressions.

It's a good idea to buy your analogue front end from one place, so that they can set it up properly. Unless, of course, you are already an adept.

IMO

@lewm , I was a bit ragged there and not specific enough. Vintage classical recordings and some vintage jazz recordings are excellent however popular music recording particularly in America in the 60s and early 70s could be quite bad. Many of them were recorded OK but the mastering was done on cheap equipment without much care. After all, the kids are just going to listen on portable Zeniths. I have hundreds of these records and the quality is laughable. Consequently, when remastered on modern equipment the jump in quality can make a dismal record very enjoyable. Even today you run across the occasional popular record that is not balanced correctly and does not sound right at any volume level. 

Then the second issue is that high resolution digital versions of older analog recordings frequently sound better and I mean by direct AB comparison of both formats synchronized and played back at the same time with the ability to switch back and forth from the listening position, (the same goes for comparing remasters.)   There is a lot of harmonic distortion at high frequencies with vinyl playback. This creates a high frequency haze that fills in between the instruments.This is very noticeable with high frequency percussion, cymbals, triangles and such. Localization of these instruments is more distinct with digital playback as a rule. When you hear a digital recording played back in high res digital the results can be quite amazing. Vinyl people do not want to hear this and they do not have to listen to me. These are repeatable observation I have made on my system which everyone knows is substandard along with my hearing. I called them another word beginning in "S" but the post was removed because I guess it offended someones tender eyes. Well, Excuse Me. I do not care what the format is or whether it is tubes or solid state. I am not married to anything except what I think is the best sound. Everyone else is entitled to there own opinion but not listening to music because it was recorded with transistors and not tubes is cutting off your nose to spite your face according to Henry IV.