Every day I see another turntable recommendation...

I can attest to the modern Linn LP12 to be a very fine turntable with the great benefit of allowing many incremental upgrades available to take it to the very top of the line performance. They are stable once set up. The Linn LP12 Majik is $5K… and you can incrementally upgrade it to the top level $30K Klimax.

I can share some comments from my friend / audio dealer who has setup and serviced all sorts of turntables for over thirty years. Many complaints on Linn as well as some other turntables of them not being set up right comes from people setting them up with no idea what they were doing… leaving off a motor screw, sprinkling baby powder inside the chassis, man handling the tone arm, using the wrong screws putting in thing up side down. This kind of stuff will screw up the sound of any turntable.

I used to have a VPI Aries without a suspension, a fantastic sounding turntable… I now have a Linn LP12… a fantastic sounding turntable.

I'm definitely biased, but if you want to look for something off the beaten path, there's this...

www.sempersonus.com

@pjrebordao Thank You for the link.

As a very long time Idler Drive user who ultimately went for a modern design concept for the drive method and acquired a PTP Solid Nine.

I have also spent my time listening to other iterations of the methods adopted to be used with the Idler Drive System and observed many more iterations used for the Idler Drive TT. 

With the above in mind, the knowledge that the Idler Drive has been seen as a viable product in todays TT Market and a New Model is now available, is very good news for a individual keen to continue with the drive mechanism, the one in the link could be proven to be a uber modern concept for the Idler Drive mechanism.

I am looking forward to encountering this design and thoroughly getting to grips with the impression it can create.  

You can stop chasing your tail saulh

"$4500 bucks all in"!!!, Oracle Delphi mkII, SME V5 arm, Dynavector H.O-MC cartridge (can be critiqued 2-5 yrs up the road), plug in good to go.

Use your savings for a HQ tube powered pre-amp.

Audion Silver Night Line & MM Phono Stage Pre-Amp

Or you can go with the highly reputed Atma-Sphere MP-1 or Atma-Sphere MP-3

There isn't any real need to limit a choice for a Tonearm to one Brand or to go to the expense of the SME Series V.

To get a demonstration of the V might be a little more difficult than other Brands, as Cadence the new owners of SME, enforced the changes in marketing, with the  recent changes enforced affecting how the Arms can be purchased. SME has stopped singular Tonearm items being available. The only method to acquire a New Model today is with a SME TT, leaving the singular item purchase as most likely  being a used item.

There are other models that I am aware you are considering and are worthwhile trying to experience through demonstration, prior to making any decision for the Tonearm that is to be selected.