Turntable upgrade recommendations: SME vs AMG vs Technics vs other

You might want to ad SOTA to your list. I have a Star Sapphire table with vacuum hold down and a SME 309 arm on it, a very nice combo IMHO. The SOTA tables being produced now have been seriously reworked for the better, magnetic levitation bearing, new motor and motor control units and are reliable to a fault once setup. Music flows out from the table and expands to fill my room with a wall of sound and I couldn’t be happier. And also, they don’t cost a fortune and if you need help, just call them and you more than likely will get one of the owners to answer the phone. Great customer service which is invaluable when purchasing and setting up a top tier turntable.

Thanks @pindac  . Could not remember the exact reference. VERY useful.

Vinyl has a few ritualistic disciplines, that are a Joy to behold when all are synched.

Developing the want for participating in the disciplines and acquiring the required lessons and equipment necessary to develop the skills and additional practices can be as much fun as the listening experience, even though a little more mentally challenging and less restful when taking part. 

Someone else mentioned Galibier turntables and I bought my kuzma tonesrm from galibier.  I’m here in Colorado about 45 minutes from them and the owner; thom mackris came down to my house and spent 2 whole days showing me how to set it up at no charge but the cost of the arm.  Then when I got a new turntable, a galibier, Tom came back down to help me do the arm and cartridge set up.  Anytime I have an issue with any piece of my gear, most of which I didn’t buy from galibier, my first call is to Tom and he always is willing to help - whether it’s noise out of a tube pre amp or setting up a real su and Tom always happy to help.  Never had a better experience than I had with Tom.  So im a huge fan of galibier.  And I love my turntable and kuzma arm.  With that said, of the 3 you mentioned; sme amg, and technics, there is a great dealer here in Colorado and he sells all 3- now I haven’t done a perfect comparison (different arms and carts) but I much preferred the sme and amg over the technics.  

@gasherbaum It is great to see there is a opportunity for yourself, to get out and experience different equipment without having to consider a long round trip.

In my experience there is no better way to evaluate a performance of a TT and supporting ancillaries, the actual being in the room with the equipment, is the best.

When a space to carry out the listening is carefully worked on, to enable a better presentation and listening experience, this is usually a much improved encounter over an encounter at a Big Event and can even be better than a home demonstration, as not all listening spaces in a home have a work carried out to improve the system/room coupling. 

Most importantly you was there, you have carried out an assessment and your evaluation is very relevant to the OP's query.