Changing from an XV1-S

I have not heard as much as many others here , but i like the koetsu s , a stable wonderful performer very nice with voices (presence) , but i recon you wont go wrong with the ones you mentioned either

I had zyx 100 fs and the 2 current ones

Nice ortofon movie , nice company .

I also owned a levinson power amp , nice amps , may be also an upgrade would be a bigger levinson , improved dynamics /control better bass and soundclarity at higher volumes

I think it is an adventure to buy a new cartridge , imagine all the different designthoughts implemented in the different "top" contenders , they all put a different shade on the music and can bring different views as to what is "right " reproduction of music .
I have not heard many heartbreaking anlogue set ups at dealers in holland ,i dont know how that is in the states , I would definetely trust your own ears not a dealer, a lot of them would sell the one with biggest margin on it i reckon.

I heard the hovland has a fine mc/mm stage in it

Thanks for sharing Dcarol, although things are very much listenertaste / systemdependant you probably will not go wrong with an A 90 and it is as said before , not extremely expensive .
I dont know of a dealer who has it in demonstration at the moment otherwise i would like to hear itfor myself.

Don t feel emberassed about your " cheap "table , i have an even cheaper vpi and im very happy with it .
I d rather through a cd player against a wall though

Peter ayer , mad floyd , i have no doubt that in your ears the ?? table with the tri planar arm sounded better , but to say the vpi does not have a "certain level" of sound i think is "a bit" far fetched , sometimes in the audiofile world , things which are cheap and already a long time on the market are considered not interesting( the tri planar is also long on the market is i know ).
I have listened at dealer demos/shows to almost all the topcontenders in tables(excl SME) and cartridges and i would not say the high $ arms and tables are "much" better than what i own now ,i would spent more on a better phono pre ,where i think more progress can be made , i say this because someone who starts with analogue should not think that good analogue sound starts with 15/20000 $$ total investment.
Maybe im just deaf who knows ???

Peterayer that was indeed madfloyds comment about "certain level"
Okay mike , i thought i had reached pretty much a platform here , but may be there is indeed much more to be discovered in the grooves , in the new " TAX " year i will buy a new turntable probaby a SME 20 /5 inch arm (fremer favorite) which is not that expensive , i read about your " the beat " also interesting .
The point i want to make is just that my current combo just smokes digital , my former wadia 581 doesnt deliver 50 % of what i hear now in terms of being there ,micro dynamics, nuances in voices and " tonal rightness".
Enough to be a very happy listener without much desires actually .

Footnote : i ll be comparing VPI - SME 20/A in 1,5 month time as i have ordered one .

Yes im also very curious as to how the test fell in place , from what i read there was one TT involved and one arm .
Question?
-did the dealer set the trackingforce from memory (paperwritings) or something like that for each and individual cart.
- Did the dealer changed the loading for each cart?
-did the dealer move the arm up or down at the back? VTA as that is called in engish i believe ?
What was the used phonostage again ?

I Read a "AYRA "phonostage i suppose you ment ayre and the rest of the system being ayre to.