@MετάEd I did it pretty right for years and years.
I had, variously, an Empire turntable, a Thorens turntable with a Rabco arm (IIRC), Macintosh tube amp, all that stuff
Can't remember the cartridge I used, but my next-best cartridge was a Shure V-15 Type 2 (???)
Can't remember this stuff now.
The Empire turntable tracked at .25 grams.
Gawd, and then there were different styluses and the whole rigmarole.
It gives me fits just to think about it
And, of course, I still have my JBL L-112 speakers. Didn't get rid of those.