but ... (after being accustomed to good quality digital reproduction) I am beginning to wonder if my expectations are too high!
Oh. That's a shame. And you were so close too. You had me at "after being accustomed to..." That's where you should have stopped.
Oh well. Never too late. You simply did what a lot of guys do and became accustomed to a sound and learned to like it. Which is fine. But if you go trying to make everything else sound like that, that's where things go off the rails. If your goal is to make analog sound like digital when everyone knows the Holy Grail of digital is to sound like analog, well just read that last little bit and think about it some more.
The sooner you put that out of your mind the better. Because only when you stop trying to put legs on a snake, only when you start listening for music instead of details, then you will be in the right frame of mind to have a good shot at getting the most out of what could be one awfully good front end.
So if your goal is analog that sounds like digital you can count me out. But if you want to try and discover just how captivating and musically involving a really good analog setup can be let me know.
Oh, and stay away from those expensive "audiophile" reissues. The best that can be said for them is that they are new. Almost never sound as good as you can find in a decent used copy. Sorry. But just one more reason records are not CD. You have a lot to learn.