Do I buy an upscale TT?

Audio Technica ART1000 is a great cartridge, possibly the best I have.  And I have three high end Ortofons, A95, Anna and Verismo. 

Doesn't it really start with the stylus / cartridge?

@clearthinker I am wed to Ortofon and have recently become quite interested in the Verismo, it is no longer a curiosity, I would like to experience.

I have a good recollection of a A95 in use and am very familiar with a Windfeld PR in use, but can't recall encountering the Anna.

The Verismo is the one I am now looking on as the cutting edge for the Ortofon Design, it does make it known newer materials are in use for parts that have a critical function.

I am also going to get myself a demonstration of a MSL Platinum and Mutech Hayabusa.

The Verismo and Hayabusa, are the two I suspect, that will the shortlist to be decided on. It would have been nice if more was available, but getting a demonstration of a Cart' comes with challenges.

@pindac 

You would of course be welcome to listen to Verismo here but (1) I live in UK so am probably a ways away from you and in my experience (2) there is limited benefit in auditioning cartridges for purchase in unknown systems and (3) yes it is impossible to get a loaner cartridge to put in one's own system.  One way forward might be to take one's present cart and install in the dealer's system to compare with the cart under review.

I have found the match between cartridge mass and arm mass to be at least as critical as resonance matching,  In particular, don't put a light cart in a heavy arm.  A90, A95 and Verismo are all very low mass (Verismo a tad heavier).  They suit my Simon Yorke Aeroarm (very short parallel tracker) extremely well.

I can give you a taste of Verismo vs. A95.  They both have the same Ortofon family sound characteristics.  Very accurate transducers, but perhaps a little light in the heavy patches.  Verismo does a bit better there whilst retaining all the truthfulness.  You say you haven't heard Anna.  This is far heavier both in mass and in its sound character, very very solid and authoritative.  My mistake, it didn't suit the Aeroarm at all, so I run it in my Zarathustra, an SY product from the 1980s, very heavy platter, sprung, with a Zeta arm, also high mass.  It goes very well.  So Verismo is only one 'cutting edge' at Ortofon.  Anna is cutting, but a rather different edge.  They rate it as possibly the best they have done and there is now an uprated version.  If you have a high mass arm you should definitely hear it.

I do also recommend you to try the AT ART1000.  It is a really good piece, state of their art, with more authority and weight than the A90-Verismo line but little if any loss of accuracy, very clean, and a very well-balanced sound stage.  Delicate to handle, it has a unique suspension system.

@clearthinker Thank You for the description.

It is the reduced rich tone that is the appeal to myself. I have become quite adept at adding rich tone when desirable by the use of additional ancillaries.

I will send a private mail.

The TT should not have a sound. The arm, cartridge and phono stage are what is important, assuming a distortion free TT, which it sounds like idler drives are not (never had one) since they seem to have a "sound".

They should be well matched in terms of cartridge weight and phono stage compatibility with the cartridge, and of course the arm fitting the turntable. 

Rega arms are the best bang for the buck, and for ease of implementation of course match perfectly to their tables. If you want to go above a $2200 arm (Rega's top of the line RB3000), have at it. Personally, I went with the RB880 arm for half the price of that, and ended up buying the TT it comes on (P8) after the fact. Kept the same cartridge. Arm made a much bigger difference than the table (had a Rega P5 before the P8).

I’m of the belief that my Marantz TT15S1, with ACE Benz MC cartridge would smoke your Garrard. And between the table $1400 as new, cartridge $650 new, and phono pre $450 used, I’ve less than $2300 invested. Well, it’s simply a thought. 

@sokogear The ideal, is for the TT to not have a sound, equally attractive is for the TT to have a non-eccentric rotation, with the non-eccentric rotation being available a extremely accurate speed control will be a much desired addition.

It is extremely difficult to have a TT that does not produce something as a result of the TT's function that is not a detriment, that does not impart mechanical noise, oscillation or Wow into a replay, either of which are measurable and in frequent cases audible to the end user.

There are ways to reduce these detrimental influences, but these cost money if being resolved from a commercial front and can be met with commissioning a skilled individual with a familiarity with a design, to take the work required on. The average individual can learn to service a mechanical part, but to get to a place of noticeable betterment machining of parts can be required.    

@coltrane1 nice setup. As to smoking a 301/401 well probably not. I've hear both in a few setups but YMMV :)

Btw hello fellow Washingtonian...

@solypsa, Greetings! I live in Lake Stevens, a quiet country community of about 15,000 people, 45 minutes north of Seattle. Life is very good! Retired and loving every day I wake up! :)

Miglik, as mentioned before, but you owe it to yourself to hook your turntable up to your friend’s obvious audiophile system and compare the sound. You may be surprised how good your Garrard is.

This could make you rethink what may be a better upgrade.

Do you have the same phono stage that your friend has?  If not, then start there.

Happy Listening.  

I had a  Kuzma XL Dc, 2 arms, 4pt and ref 313 , various carts including an atlas. It was my ultimate TT , carefully isolated, it sounded great. Along the way I built a sophisticated streamer coupled with a lampizator dac and it sounded as good, sometimes better, on every thing except some very well recorded analogue jazz albums LPs. 

Moving  house necessitated  selling  the Kuzma system. I still have a couple of thousand LPs so now have a Technics SL 1200 G which produces a sound very close to the Kuzma with subtle improvements in tonality.

The mega TTs possibly produce amazing results but lower down it is possible to achieve excellent results more affordably. Form my experience of numerous TTs I have found the phono stage/MC step up imposes a massive influence on the quality of the sound achieved.