Am I a hopeless audio snob?

This post might stray a bit from the subject at hand, but allow me to ramble.

I started my adult, finally-have-money-to-fuel-my-stereo-nuttiness with a Technics direct drive turntable bought from a high-pressure guy at a local Pacific Stereo. Not much later I started hanging with a dude who turned me on to the world of Hairy Person and G. Gordon Holt. Smitten by the mags, I bought a Denon 103 spherical tipped moving coil. I played it straight through the standard phono input of my NAD 3020 Integrated, with the volume knob at somewhere around Two O'clock. Yeah, it sounded great but it couldn't track its way out of the proverbial paper bag. Absolutely laughable inner groove distortion. The cure? A Shure V-15 with the brush thing-a-mo-bob hanging off the end. Tracking was glorious but the tone didn't quite cut it.

Meanwhile, my status in the audiophile club was severely compromised by my direct-drive turntables (which was now a Denon), so I blew the bucks on a SOTA Sapphire with an okay-for-now tonearm (what was that brand again? A something MMT?).

I have to say, that the SOTA-based system provided a whole new world in happy listening. By the same token, though, the tonearm's bearing always seemed to be loose, so I traded it in on an Alphason. Yes indeedy, that Alphason improved fidelity all-round. It now supports a Lyra Delos, but I think the Delos might be near the end of its service life. Orchestral string tone is dirty once again. Or is the culprit my rescued-from-the-closet Moon step-up device which replaced my oh-did-I-love-that-thing Mytek Brooklyn Bridge...which recently suffered a particularly ugly death?

I get where you're coming from. Aesthetics in my audio system was never a priority for me as sound quality was always my goal. But when I decided to upgrade my analog rig, a 1976 Linn, I wanted something that looked like an upgrade as well. I went with an Avid Acutus Reference turntable with SME V arm. There may be better units out there but I never tire of its looks and it sounds great to me.

Yes, you're an audio snob. In my opinion, because you chose to make audio decisions based on looks and perceptions...rathervthan your ears.

Technics turntables are very good especially the 1200G and SP10R. Also the older generation SP10mk2 and SP10mk3.

It was the British HiFi press that out the spin on belt drive vs direct and idler drives that was wrongly favoring belt drives and made vinyl playback into a Linn LP12 world.

Part of an audio manufacturer's marketing plan is not only to make a superior product but also to project an aesthetic appeal.  That is a valid consideration in making a purchase.   Personally, I hate  the look  of B & W speakers (sorry, Bowers & Wilkins). Fat stubby monsters regardless of the quality of their sound.  If I hadn't heard about the quality of the relatively expensive Harbeth speakers, I would have regarded them as ugly cheap boxes right out of the 1970's (I'd never have them in my house).   You certainly need to pay attention to the sound quality of equipment as #1 but almost equally important is that you are happy with them aesthetically.  There is a lot of high quality, good looking turntables out there so keep looking  - you'll know when its right.   So according to ddriveman, I'm also an audio snob and love it!