Yep, of course, but without getting close to marketing spiel, it was and just about is the best I can think of making. I am happy to compare it against any equivalent both commercial and DIY. But TBH, I don’t like to bring it bake off's as generally its a loose loose situation. Either the setup is broken so nothing can sound good, several of the folk listening have axes to grind so will always post what they want on the net, or even if it does sound better than everything else, the difference in price will be used to produce a "but does it sound twice as good?" whatever that means.Nick you must have realised it was going to raise a lot of eyebrows at that price.
So like "War Games", the only way to win is not to play. But I would be happy to do any comparison given less combative circumstances. I am proud of that phono, there is 15 years of my life in it. Its not something where what it does is immediately obvious (well it is, but only part of it), but when you listen to it for a week you will feel a bit better about the price.
The price was also viewed against the number of > £15k turntables that are out there now, its in that context it should be regarded, not against a modified Richer Sounds stage.