First used turntable +- $20,000. Any suggestions?

Piedpiper,
the phrase is actually "the devil is in the details", meaning an effort can go terribly wrong if one of its details is not right. Vide: A rig will only sound as good as its weakest part. That's were the adversary sits.

By the way, another thought, just for the fun of it: Real music, besides being "musical" per definition is only "analytical" if we want it to be, if we specially listen for it, concentrating on different aspects of the live musical message....and if we do, we won't be able to stand our rigs for quite a while, especially if it is too analytical. As you rightly say, balance.....

Haven't read all the threads but looks like no one has suggested an SME. Is that cos it is brit rather than yank? Just wondered.

SME is certainly a beautifully built contender but, IME, a bit mechanical sounding for my taste, compared to the best of its competition.

I suppose any tonearm with the wrong table/cartridge could sound "mechanical".

However, across the board I find SME tonearms to be extremely well built (far better than Origin/Rega), neutral, highly reliable, and compatible with a wide variety of cartridges.

I have no association with SME.

My comment was based on my surprise at the sound that was coming out of top of the line SME arm/table combos with stone bodied Koetsu cartridges through Airtight electronics and Sonus Faber speakers; not my own system, but not what I would have expected. Also, I did say "compared to the best of its competitors," which wouldn't include Rega.