Turntable upgrade recommendations: SME vs AMG vs Technics vs other

Thanks @pindac  . Could not remember the exact reference. VERY useful.

Vinyl has a few ritualistic disciplines, that are a Joy to behold when all are synched.

Developing the want for participating in the disciplines and acquiring the required lessons and equipment necessary to develop the skills and additional practices can be as much fun as the listening experience, even though a little more mentally challenging and less restful when taking part. 

Someone else mentioned Galibier turntables and I bought my kuzma tonesrm from galibier.  I’m here in Colorado about 45 minutes from them and the owner; thom mackris came down to my house and spent 2 whole days showing me how to set it up at no charge but the cost of the arm.  Then when I got a new turntable, a galibier, Tom came back down to help me do the arm and cartridge set up.  Anytime I have an issue with any piece of my gear, most of which I didn’t buy from galibier, my first call is to Tom and he always is willing to help - whether it’s noise out of a tube pre amp or setting up a real su and Tom always happy to help.  Never had a better experience than I had with Tom.  So im a huge fan of galibier.  And I love my turntable and kuzma arm.  With that said, of the 3 you mentioned; sme amg, and technics, there is a great dealer here in Colorado and he sells all 3- now I haven’t done a perfect comparison (different arms and carts) but I much preferred the sme and amg over the technics.  

@gasherbaum It is great to see there is a opportunity for yourself, to get out and experience different equipment without having to consider a long round trip.

In my experience there is no better way to evaluate a performance of a TT and supporting ancillaries, the actual being in the room with the equipment, is the best.

When a space to carry out the listening is carefully worked on, to enable a better presentation and listening experience, this is usually a much improved encounter over an encounter at a Big Event and can even be better than a home demonstration, as not all listening spaces in a home have a work carried out to improve the system/room coupling. 

Most importantly you was there, you have carried out an assessment and your evaluation is very relevant to the OP's query.        

Thanks Pindac.  I should say that the dealer who sells SME, AMG and Technics is Crescendo fine audio in Wheatridge Colorado and the owner there Matt is a great dealer.  Matt/Crescendo are super supportive of all the gear Crescendo sells and Matt will let you borrow almost anything (he even has shipped large Wilson speakers to someone for a test run).  He let me borrow his Ayre Amp and pre amp and take it to my house for a week to test in my system as well as an Aurender W20Se (which I bought).  similarly, Galibier, before i bought the turntable, Tom Mackris, the owner, brought the turntable down to my house and we spent an entire day comparing it to my turntable and actually swapped the arm and cart back and forth do a true comparison using my arm and my cart on both my turntable and the Galibier i was thinking of buying, before I bought it.  Too many dealers at least nowadays seem to just want you to buy stuff and if its more expensive they say it will be better (often not the case for me).  I like the dealers or in Galibier's case,  he is both a dealer of things like Kuzma and a manufacturer of his own tables, who will actually help you improve your sound and are not just trying to make the largest sale as quick as possible.  Also, if you are not in Colorado, but buy from Tom/Galibier, Tom will fly out to help you set up your turn table and I've never seen anyone better at turntable set up.  And I know Matt at Crescendo works with clients outside of Colorado, so anyway, if anyone is looking for a good dealer i would check both those out.