LP's... Do they sound better now than 30 yrs ago?

Maybe it's good that we don't know some of those strories or they would've  given us heart attack.

This is going to be fun. 

I will. Those two copies I have sound exactly the same on my table except one has more scratches, that's the one I would send to you.
Acoustic guitar music, Japanese vinyl from mid-eighties. 

Bill, I propose an experiment. I will send you one record that I cleaned on Okki Nokki machine with Audio Intelligent fluids. Listen to the record, then clean it using your usual ultrasonic plus vacuum cleaning routine, and listen to it again. Then send it back to me and I will listen to it. Then we'll compare notes. This should be interesting. Your system has much higher resolution than mine, but what I have is very sensitive to small changes. I have two copies of the record I would send you, exactly the same pressing, so I would be able to directly compare.

Do not scrubb - soak with good fluid, you are pushing dirt deeper into the groove.

Well, it's not too bad. More reason to get the best equipment possible. May be unable to fully compensate but hopefully enough.

Buying used turntable is a gamble and turntables don't like shiipping, as if anything did, right.
I think, $600 $800 buy something acceptable to begin with, new, not including phono stage and cleaning devices. Dirty vinyl ruines the experience.

Thick records change the VTA, and I am not going to adjust it each time I want to play them. Besides, they are heavier and change the balance of the playback system. And that's in addition to what others said. I am not interested in them. Ultrasonic is a luxury, if you have top system, good normal machine does excellent job if you take your time and make an effort.