Best Turntable/arm/cartridge system for $30k

If there's not a digital rig made that you can enjoy, you won't like vinyl either, IMHO. Nothing's perfect and a certain amount of snap, crackle and pop is inevitable with vinyl even with the best gear you can buy. Can you tolerate that?

"If there's not a digital rig made that you can enjoy, you won't like vinyl either"

I would tend to agree and advise again against a blind plunge into vinyl as a solution.

I know for fact though there are many out there that assert there is no digital rig that they can enjoy as much as vinyl.

If you must take a blind $30000 vinyl plunge, do save some money to acquire a suitable vinyl library and don't assume everything available on CD will be available also on vinyl (or vice versa).

Fly to Denver and audition a Galibier Stelvio at Galibier Designs.

If you have to "fly" anywhere......CES should be your only destination. IMO

Except at Galibier Designs you get one-on-one attention without the pressure of a room full of other people vying for the host's attention. You get to hear a system properly set up in a room that has been optimized, unlike a hotel room. You get to absorb the knowledge of someone who knows what he's doing and is happy to spend the time to educate you about analog in general, and about the products he builds and represents. You get to enjoy the Colorado mountains. Maybe you tie it together with a ski weekend.

One only has to study the Galibier website to see Thom is someone who goes the extra mile to impart information that enhances the understanding of vinyl set-up to anyone caring to read it. No strings attached.

There's an advantage to that scenario over CES. However, at CES you certainly get to see a lot of stuff, albeit not under the best conditions.