In the ensuing years... the Karousel came by....
Regardless of what else is in your LP12, IMHO, the Karousel is a must and it’s a steal by Linn pricing. Not only is the manufacturing and design a work of art, but the sound, the way it drops the background noise into the, well, background, is undeniable. I put one in my LP12 two years ago and it shocked me how much better the sound got.
So, IMHO, the LP12-Karousel-Keel-Trampolin2-Ekos SE-Kable and Lingo-4 would be my end point suggestion.
I’m not quite sure about the built in phono preamp idea as I have a couple of awesome DIY, fully tweaked preamps....
Right now I just bought the Keel and Ekos-2 (used).. .and I’m soldiering with the original Lingo...
Technics... I know people that like those things. And they rebuild them. Not for me, though. My table is on top of a Target TT5-T tall stand and it doesn't go out of kilt.