I got the bug to re-visit my LPs about 3 years ago. The Vinyl Revival made me think that perhaps, since the time I abandoned LPs for CDs back in the late 80's, LP playback technology might have improved. After all, vinyl enthusiasts were and are proclaiming vinyl to sound better than digital means to music. At any rate, I purchased a new Technics SL-1210GR, which has features to assure cartridge alignment perfection from application of the Technics alignment scheme. To complement the Technics TT's ability to extract all there is to extract from a cartridge I placed a Shure V15V-MR/Jico SAS stylus assembly into the Technics headshell; thereafter, connecting the TT to my Sony TA-E9000ES phono preamplifier. Upon first play of familiar music, which I had on both LP and CD, I could easily discern my new TT outfit was indeed getting all there was in the groove to get. In other words, I could not distinguish LPs from CDs of same music, until an annoying pop was heard from whatever LP I had on the TT. And, that was the rub, the snap, crackles, and pops which caused me to abandon LPs for CDs in the first place. So, while my new TT no doubt gets the job done, it's use today is limited to digitizing my LP collection, filtering the pops, for placement in my iTunes Library; although, now that I have an Apple Music subscription, digitizing LPs is no longer necessary to enjoy the music I have on LPs. Bottom line here is get a TT which can easily accomodate/align any cartridge. The Technics TTs which have S-shaped tonearms can get great results. Consider the Direct Drive Technics 1500c. It comes with a mounted Ortofon 2M Red Cartridge, as well as a built-in phono preamp, which can be switched on or off. Note, before considering any of the budget straight tonearm TT models with non-removable headshells and no means to adjust VTA, recognize that these inexpensive solutions require much finesse to properly mount a cartridge. And, once mounted you are precluded to that cartridge unless you are not deterred by the time it will take to swap the installed cart for another. The Technics allows for cartridge swaps within a few seconds, not a few hours. One more thing, if you can not budget the Technics, the Fluance RT85 Turntable comes with an Ortofon cart from the 2M Series. This TT is designed for those 18mm tall carts thus the TT does not need a VTA adjustment feature to get correct SRA. It's one reason why this TT is so attractively priced. Here's info on mentioned TTs.
https://www.technics.com/us/products/premium-class/direct-drive-turntable-system-sl-1500c.html https://www.fluance.com/rt85w-reference-high-fidelity-vinyl-turntable-natural-walnut
