Ultimate Turntable search...OMA K5 or ?

Tokyo is replete with high end dealers who allow a serious acting walk-in audiophile to spend as much time as wanted listening to various combinations of equipment.  In that sense, the Japanese are about 30 years behind the US, where such opportunities have been dwindling year by year, unless you've got the earned reputation of a Mike Lavigne and you live in or near a major city.

Mike, My idea of simplicity is you press a button and the turntable is up to speed in a few seconds with no belt or string to worry about over the course of time. But I am playing in a different sandbox from yours.

@rsf507 One of the HiFi Groups I attend (not for some time) has the venue that is the premises of a Audio Show Room in their Purpose produced demonstration room.

The Resident System I have encountered over the Years I visited approaches £200K, allowing for Power Treatments and Looms inclusive.

As a result of the £10K Phonostage, £70K Soulution Pre and Power Amp's and £75K Maxsonic Speakers.

The Proprietor has a real Passion for Vinyl sources in use TT>TA>Cart' can easily   add up to £50K+ if a TOTR AMG TT is offered for the Demo's and comparisons.

CS Port TT's are offered, but I can't recollect one being used solely as a Demo'-Comparison Model. 

All the above devices are intended to have devices built from scratch, modified to different levels or just plane old as purchased, used in place of the resident devices.

A simple rule prevails, its added to the system, and must work with no further tinkering needed or its rejected for the next in the line up. That rule has caused some contention at times, but it is well known and mostly accepted by all who attend.

Usually different meetings cover a a Main Topic, Vinyl Source, CD Source, Amplification and Speakers, but in general this is the Prime experience to be had, there are always other devices brought along and time set aside to hear them, as well as a more informal period where attendees can request a mix and match of devices to be added. 

Any Dealership can create a HiFi Club, it just depends on how the Proprietor feels about experiencing other musical encounters outside of the business hours and how they feel about individuals, most likely non-customers, having an ambition and interaction with a very expensive system that is a saleable set up. 

In relation to the response to my earlier post, I did limit the loan items to mainly electronic devices, such as Amp's. Many have been loaned from Phon's through to Power in both SS and Valve. On occasion TT types that are easier to transport have appeared as well as Tonearms and Cart's.

I'll say it again, as I have on many occasions prior to this, If one is looking for a real Bang for Buck Power Amp' that can stand 'toe to toe' with much much more expensive Power Amplification, looking in the direction of Neurochrome will do one no harm, especially if funds are very limited to get on board to this type of level of performance. 

@peterayer A friend heard the AS 2000 a while back, reported to me that he was quite underwhelmed. He believed that the speed control was marginal and that the string contributed to wow and flutter. My experience with the old war horse SME 3012 tonearm ( this is typically mounted on the AS 2000) is that one can easily hear the knife edge chatter of the bearing. Assuming of course, that one has a resolving enough system.

The Link offers further insight to £100K+ TT’s, the content is sort of Hedge Fund-On Topic .

The Lists No5 Rossner and Sohn TT has a lot of resemblance as a finished aesthetic to the Contactless Platter Driven Prototype TT I have been referencing.

I'm quite content with my Denon DP-59L with Audiomusikraft Lithium headshell with Denon 103R guts.  Less than $2K all in.  Good enough.