You went with the ML. It will last longer and be kinder to your inner grooves.
I've never been a total fan of the stock arms. That may actually make some people laugh because all of my praise of the 2000s has been made using only Yamaha GT 2000 arms(plural). So the end result with the Yamaha arms is superb. Obviously then I think it could be better with some other arms. I don't think that I would use one of the Yamaha 2000 series arms on another non GT 2000 turntable and take the best traits of a GT 2000 over to that non GT 2000 in doing so. Does that make sense? I don't hate the Yamaha GT 2000 arms but I don't think that they are what makes those turntables the force that they are.
Whereas the motor/motor control electronics in that plinth is excellent. It works really well. The are testimonies on the net from people who have had both side to side and the GT 2000 edges out some really well regarded Japanese direct drives. That is not about the Exclusive P3 or the SP10 Mk 3. I have never seen a head to head commeent about those two with a GT 2000. Maybe the GT 2000X. There is one multi TOTL Japanese direct drive owner who adores the GT 2000X he owns and doesn't own a GT 2000. He resides in Japan, has a Denon DP-100 a Exclusive P3 and a L-07D is familiar with Denon's DP80(which he praises as great value). The GT 2000X he says is special. I've seen two comments from different people who have side to side compared the Kenwood KP-1100 with a GT 2000(not X). Both said it wasn't close. Beobloke has a completely destroyed, damaged spindle/ thrust plate demolished and rehabbed by a third party. Despite owning some of the best Japanese DDs he said above is delighted with it. I don't think he has heard what the GT 2000 can do. It is an exceptional sounding series with the 2000X usually nominated as the best of the series.
Notice also that Mark B has said(in the Social Group thread) explicitly that the addition of the heavier platter was the biggest improvement any accessory made to the sound of a GT 2000(and that was a 2000, not a 2000L or 2000X). What that means again is that until one has heard what a 2000 series turntable can do with the heavier platter, one has not heard the complete capability of the series. That was with a stock(YA-39) arm.
I think that a GT 2000 with the YOP or equivalent, the heavier platter and a better arm than either of the Yamaha arms would make most people swoon with how good a vintage turntable of any nationality could sound. Properly isolated would have them completely blown away. Most of us GT 2000 series owners don't have the complete picture of what it can do/how far the excellence can extend. My experiments, and I would say acheivements, with isolation indicate that no matter how one has their 2000 series setup(outboard power supply/ heavier platter/ better arm/ 2000X) until they properly isolate their table they don't have a clue what it can sound like.
There's a lot of scope to make an exceptional sounding base model into a turntable which could hold its own with much more costly turntables. Sure it will cost more to do that but one can cut costs with non-original substitutes for the YOP and YGT. Then for peanuts(in relative terms) one gets a super turntable.
If you want to get ridiculous, one replinths with a densified wood plinth and who knows where that takes the package? Once we talk about replinthing: any arm or multi-arm is possible. The GT 2000 journey can be one of buy a GT 2000, settle there and be like the cat that has the cream or one can incrementally take it to where it was made to be taken and beyond. Settle for stock basic and be smitten. Or get adventurous. There are no losers whichever journey one takes.
My ideal GT 2000(L/X) would be with YOP/YGT or equivalent, replinthed densified wood Kuzma 4 point or Saffire(for heavier cartridges) properly isolated. For the money spent that would be unequalled at that price.
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