SOTA NOVA, HR-X VPI, Technics 1200G recommendations?

I must admit the comparison between a high class toneams is very subjective and should not be taken seriously (at least for beginner), unless a buyer compare by himself in his own system with his own records. The key point is a CARTRIDGE, it must be the same cartridge and turntable and each time it must be perfectly matched cart and tonearm.

TriPlanar, Reed, Kuzma, Schroeder, Durand ... are all high class modern tonearms, they are all must be great, the rest is personal preferences.

All these tonearm are extremely expensive!

There are absolutely amazing tonearms from the golden age of analog that cost 50-70% less compared to new high-end tonearms. Sometimes it’s hard to detect why they are cheaper than new high-end tonearms.

I remember I was in the situation like Jay many years ago, the starting point for me was Technics EPA-100 with ZYX AIRY III MC (and Technics MM carts like 205c mk4) and then modern Thomas Schick 12 inch tonearm and SPU cartridges (then some vintage MC and MM). Schick tonearm is so beautiful that it was hard to resist, the price was more than affordable. The next step was Reed 3p "12 Cocobolo (I don’t know any other tonearm in the universe that allow me to adjust absolutely everything on the fly including azimuth). But to get Reed for affordable price (demo unit) I decided to travel to Vilnius, Lithuania to meet up with the Reed Team in person! I bought their used demo version with huge discount! Normally I would never buy a tonearm like Reed, because official retail price was something like EUR 5000!

If the budget is not a problem my advice is to buy one modern and one vintage tonearm and compare by yourself with appropriate cartridges.

This hobby is about fun after all, there are so many great tonearms and cartridges out there.

No. There is no validity to the notion that the TP sounds muted compared to the FR64S. In fact, the idea is ridiculous without regarding the particular cartridge.

It seems to me we are all coming around to the same place. 

@lewm, I handily agree that if things like contacts and stiffness are going to be a problem the are certainly going to be worse with a stiff, low output moving coil cartridge. This says nothing about record and stylus wear. 
I myself have migrated away from stiff low output cartridges and am using more compliant MM and MI cartridges. I also have to admit that many of my concerns are academic and I really do not know how much they affect the experience with the exception that lighter setups do outperform heavier setups. the oscilloscope traces I saw were more than convincing.
A tonearm with a detachable head shell may sound exactly the same as a tonearm of similar effective mass, without a removable head shell and with the same cartridge of appropriate compliance. As you say the most important issue is that the cartridge match the tonearm. I also agree that the differences between excellent cartridges is nuanced, not dramatic at all. Which makes me wonder why someone would pay $16,000 for a cartridge? Then again why would someone pay $250,000 for an amp?
Crazy hobby.

If it was my choice between the listed turntables, I would send the Sota back to the factory to be checked and upgraded.  That is an outstanding turntable.  

Second would be upgrading the arm to possibly a SME IV or V.

But, for the price range listed, I would keep the SOTA and upgrade it via the factory.

enjoy

What is the advantage of using a low compliance cartridge? Is it for a specific sound character? Otherwise it seems like one is limiting himself to heavy tonearms.