It is hard to mentally compare now to many years ago, and while improvements each may have made significant changes in sound, they don't covey overall level changes of the type the OP asked about.
My best memory of what really significant change has come about occurred when I was playing with my sister's college Thorens tt--a 145? I think with the original cartridge installed. I listened to a few songs and was thinking of how this really sounded pretty good, and then I switched back to my SME setup and the change was almost startling.
So I think that maybe inserting one component in your chain that is entry-level might be a good way to demonstrate the differences that have been achieved in the evolution of a system.
Bill
My best memory of what really significant change has come about occurred when I was playing with my sister's college Thorens tt--a 145? I think with the original cartridge installed. I listened to a few songs and was thinking of how this really sounded pretty good, and then I switched back to my SME setup and the change was almost startling.
So I think that maybe inserting one component in your chain that is entry-level might be a good way to demonstrate the differences that have been achieved in the evolution of a system.
Bill