Analogue front end. You want more weight, scale and dynamics.Where do you start upgrading?

Religious stance ? OK, so be it, I don't mind. But yes there is more than one way to lead to the same outcome. I just don't see tinkering with turntable based source as an art form and my approach is simple and straightforward. I will do artistry with tubes and speakers.

In other words, I see cartridge as a reel to reel deck's playback head. Nothing more, nothing less.

@inna You might try the platter pad. Many/most turntables don't have one that really does the job.

The job, in case its not clear, is to control resonance in the vinyl. To do that the pad has to be able to absorb energy at all frequencies (not just some) and to do that the most effectively it must be the same hardness as the LP.

Its really a good idea to damp the platter as well and a good platter pad can do that too. The difference in sound is exactly what you are asking for in your opening post.

Oracle makes a platter pad that does this job very well. Pads that don't work are made of cork, rubber, felt, carbon fiber and also raw platters made of metal. That's a lot of platter pads!

The thing is if the LP talks back to the cartridge you simply can't fix it anywhere downstream starting with the cartridge itself. So this has to be fixed first.

Ralph, I have Boston Audio graphite mat on my Nottingham Spacedeck, and the difference with original felt mat is quite big.

This thread is not about my set up. I my case, I would have to upgrade the table first and then the rest, so it's good enough for now.

I don’t use a platter pad. Well, maybe I do. It’s a 70mm POM platter pad sitting on a 15mm stainless steel platter. Right @mulveling?