O.K., the other end of your personal experience

When it comes to the Infinity Black Widow, it didn't take long for Paul Seydor to convince me to replace it with the Sumiko MMT for my SOTA Sapphire. There was no question regarding the improvement to the sound.   A few years later, though, an Alphason HR 100 S arm took me further, to where I still stand today.

Garrard Zero-100 turntable.  It left lathe chips of vinyl on the floor in front of it.  Still hurts 40+ years later. 

Yes, the Zero-100 was such a marketing success...but it's only success.  

Buying a Linn Sondek LP 12, then experiencing upgrade Hell.  What a total piece of crap.  I’ve commented in detail through the years about my nightmare like experience. 
Makes me want to pour a stiff drink every time I think about it, that and the nearly $8000.00 I had into it.  Sold at a massive loss..probably the happiest day of my life..

N

Completely irrelevant today but,
In my youth I was feeling guilty about my non audiophile DD turntable picked up at the local Pacific Stereo on closeout. Decided I would graduate to an expertly setup Thorens (TD166 MkII?) with a HOMC Adcom XCLT cartridge. So, I traded in my Sony PS-X60 / Shure V15 type V and made the deal. Upon first listen at home I quickly realized what a terrible mistake I'd made! When I returned to the "expert" audio dealer the next day to buy my Sony back - it was already gone. First audio mistake I've made.