>>There is no reason a TT from forty years ago shouldn't sound as good as a table built today.<<
Wrong.
Computers and sophisticated manufacturing techniques enable components to be built to far tighter tolerances.
Not to mention that some of the new materials such as acrylic, rare woods, and titanium that weren't used years ago.
Your assertion "of draging a needle through a groove is essentially the same as it was when Edison did it" is far too simplistic.
Contemporary tables, tonearms, and cartridges are superior with the exception of a very small handful of examples.
Wrong.
Computers and sophisticated manufacturing techniques enable components to be built to far tighter tolerances.
Not to mention that some of the new materials such as acrylic, rare woods, and titanium that weren't used years ago.
Your assertion "of draging a needle through a groove is essentially the same as it was when Edison did it" is far too simplistic.
Contemporary tables, tonearms, and cartridges are superior with the exception of a very small handful of examples.