I wasn't going to respond to this because even where to start is a dilemma. Ok, start right at the beginning:
1. My grandmother gave me free rein of her tall boy, hand windup Victrola, big horn out the top, arm must have weighed a couple of pounds. I had to stand on a chair to reach inside to put on the 78 records. She taught me to keep track of the time as the steel needles (10 for $1) needed to be replaced every 10 hours. This was the beginning. Circa 1956.
2. In 1960 I saw my first SME tonearm in the window at the local electronics supply store. Compared to grandma's Victrola arm, it was the equivalent of what was happening in the Space Race.
3. In 1963 I bought a Weathers Townsend turntable with paper route money. Idler drive, light weight plinth, platter and wooden arm it sounded quite good and I wish I still had it.
4 In 1969 I married my long suffering wife, Bonnie and bought an AR turntable. I still have Bonnie, hated the turntable and wished then and since that I'd kept the Weathers. The AR was plagued with what might be the worst tonearm to ever be fitted to a modern turntable.
5. In 1970 Upon arrival in Seattle to start classes at the University of Washington, I traded the AR for a Dual 1219. The Dual had a double gimble bearing, light weight tonearm that could track anything. I fitted it with first a Stanton 681EE and later a Shure V15. I also got a part time job at a very up scale hifi shop. Life was good.
6. In 1971, because of the luxury of accommodation pricing, I sold my Dual and replaced it with a Thorens TD125MkII. Arm was a Rabco SL8E. At the time this was all the rage. By this time I had become something of a turntable specialist and knew two things about my set up: The belt drive Thorens was quieter than the Dual, but the boogey factor was gone. It was very polite. And second, the Dual arm was infinitely superior to the Rabco. This was vexing as the Rabco are cost more than the whole Dual table. It was not supposed to be that way. The first hard lesson of hifi maturity.
7. In 1975 (I think) I got an offer for the Rabco that I couldn't refuse. It was replaced by an SME 3009. Much better. But, another hard lesson happened. A lowly Mitsubishi EC-2 worked better, performed better on the bench, sounded better, actually beat every other TT at a local hifi club meet, including a Linn Sondek. I bought one on accommodation for $200. The Thorens languished for years.
8. In 1986 I traded the Thorens for a VPI HW19MKIII. SME 3009 Series III with Shure V15. I still have that set up to this day, although I also have other cartridges and arms for it. I gave the Mitsubishi to a starving college kid a couple of years ago and it is still in use.
9. In 2014 I bought a Technics SL1200, modified it fully by KAB, then it morphed into a Technics SL1200GAE in 2016. It is still with me.
10. In 2019 I bought a VPI HW40 Anniversary. This to be my forever TT. Ya right. It sits side by side with the GAE in my FL home. Nominally it is stereo and the GAE is mono, but that is not happening either. Anyway, the VPI is sublime, yes it sounds a bit better than the GAE, but hey, I am an OLD MAN. Give me a break, how much do you think a pair of 78 year old ears can hear anyway?
11. In 2025 I put together a new system for my NH home. The HW19 was going to be the TT. That is not working as well as I had hoped for reasons beyond the scope here. First, I bought a Mitsubishi LT-20 Linear tracking TT, minty. I wanted it to be my mono TT. That is not working out either for reasons beyond.... So, I recently found a screaming deal on a Denon DP-3000EN. It is working very well indeed. Just has a very pleasing sound, looks terrific, set up was a breeze. This one is a winner for half the price of the Technics SL1300G that I was thinking about, but balked at because of the recent price hike.
