Here's the thing, we all hear different. As we age our ears change so one man's illusion of being there is another man's cd-like sound. It's really hard to spend $6K wisely unless you are willing to listen to all types of turntables to find out which "illusion of being there" is yours. If it was me, and I had that money to spend, I'd start with a Well Tempered Amadeus and an EMT TSD15 and really listen and see where you are. It's an incredibly neutral setup, titling to the warm side.. very tactile though so that translates to live. Easy to setup. At the same time maybe pick up a TD124 with a decent arm and compare the two using the EMT. If neither of those satisfy you try something that tilts to the more accurate side like a VPI or a Basis. It's a process. You'll convince yourself that anything you spend $6k on is great but you'll never know if it's the best for you unless you listen in your own system to multiple turntables.