Turntable upgrade recommendations: SME vs AMG vs Technics vs other

Just thought it would be helpful for any future individuals looking to upgrade their turntable to post a link to this discussion on various types of drives on turntables, and other unrelated posts in the thread, all of which may be helpful:

@drbond , The best table you can buy, money no option is the Dohmann Helix. Put a Schroder LT arm on it and you would be state of the art if the Helix had vcuum clamping. Down from that would be the Basis Inspiration vacuum followed by the Sota Cosmos Vacuum. If you like the Dohmann which has the most effective suspension made I would wait until Mark adds vacuum clamping to it. He has said repeatedly that he is. The Basis and Sota both have effective suspensions and vacuum clamping. The Techdas AF 1 and 3 also have effective isolation and vacuum clamping but they are stupid expensive and IMHO perform no better than the Basis. I personally will not buy a turntable that does not have both features 

Sounds like the first comment on this thread by @solypsa sums it up nicely:  I'm "in for a real treat" with an upgrade in the turntable. 

I received a Dohmann Helix One Mk 2 last week, and got it set up with 2 Schroder CB 11 tonearms, one with a Koetsu Urushi Black and the other with a Lyra Atlas cartridge.  

The sonic improvement over the Rega P8 is unbelievable!  The performers just jump right out of the speakers, and present a perfectly real soundstage right in front of me.  I would've never thought that analog could be presented so much better than digital, even SACD (at least with my current set up of Esoteric's K-01X). 

As many a commenter has remarked, digital just sounds flat by comparison.  The analog sound is much more robust, which makes me wonder if there are some harmonics that come into play with analog that are not presented with the more "precise" digital signal.  Perhaps the perfect digital measurements render a flatter sound, whereas perhaps if analog was measured, there would be more harmonics, which would measure more poorly?  (I haven't read extensively on the subject, nor have I reviewed any measurements produced by turntables.)  

Regardless, the Dohmann Helix One Mk2 has been a real treat to listen to in just the few days that I've had it!  I couldn't imagine the music sounding any more real than it currently does. . . I'm sure that the Air Force One/Zero and other higher end turntables offer more, but at this point, I can't imagine how much more.   

@drbond

Great news - forget about the analog digital debate, it will wear you down. Just enjoy your superb system. And buy more records. 

@dover 

Thanks for helping me through this musical discovery process.  Having had a Rega player since my fist audiophile days (first a P3, then a P8), I wasn't too enthusiastic about vinyl.  However, when my Rega Apheta 2 cartridge broke, and I replaced it with a Linn Krystal, I began to hear what analog was capable of. . . and, of course, then I broke my Linn Krystal cartridge, and that's part of the reason that it was time for an overall upgrade, and I have to say that while I really enjoyed the Rega P8, the Dohmann Helix One Mk 2 renders a much more musical and realistic presentation. 

Six months ago I had no idea about cartridge installation and alignment, but I used a SmarTractor UNIDIN point alignment to align the cartridges and adjust tonearm pivot to spindle distance.  I've got an AnalogMagik on order to further fine tune the adjustments of the cartridge.  The videos from that company have helped quite a bit.