I just found this thread, and was interested in the topic, and felt I had some thoughts on the subject. I started to read through the thread, and see that it has veered in a million directions.
In response to the op, I would like to share my experience. I owned a very expensive German turntable, tonearm and cartridge - all extremely well reviewed. The problem was I rarely listened to it. When I would reach for something to put on, cd"s always won out. That's a pretty strong indication that something was wrong. A friend suggested I listen to one of Steve Dobbens reconditioned Garrard 301's. I bought one, with a triplanar arm, and a Dynavector xv1s, and now my analog sings. The German table did everything right; it just had no soul. The 301 has me plowing through my record collection; it has soul.
In response to the op, I would like to share my experience. I owned a very expensive German turntable, tonearm and cartridge - all extremely well reviewed. The problem was I rarely listened to it. When I would reach for something to put on, cd"s always won out. That's a pretty strong indication that something was wrong. A friend suggested I listen to one of Steve Dobbens reconditioned Garrard 301's. I bought one, with a triplanar arm, and a Dynavector xv1s, and now my analog sings. The German table did everything right; it just had no soul. The 301 has me plowing through my record collection; it has soul.