Ah, those were the golden days of high end audio. I also worked in the business during and after my college days. WRT DG, they always sounded thin with a tilted up top end. A pity, since they offered a lot of great music.
Nowadays, I’m running a highly modified Thorens TD126 mkIII with a Dynavector 10x5 in a venerable SME 3009 arm. Tracks most everything I have and sounds great. It’s as much cartridge as I can afford these days and does a pretty good job of keeping up with the rest of the system. System in question is all ARC electronics (including a PH3 SE phono preamp for some of that analog tube goodness) and Magneplanar 3.7i speakers.
Sheesh. I could talk about this for hours. :)
I’ll throw out that back in the day I was into sound quality more than music quality, which means it is highly possible that the DG recordings, though poorer sound quality, may have been superior performances.
My ears are so bad now that I’m happy with my Soundcraftsmen Class H amp and matching pre powering - get this - two small Advents, supported with a KLH subwoofer with an aftermarket speaker from MCM electronics. I have several 70’s separates systems that I swap out from time to time. Speakers are now all about size for me since we downsized to a 1000 sq ft cottage on 32 acres. I do still use a BBE Sonic Maximizer in “set and forget” position. Even I notice the difference. I have a BBE preamp for my bass for the same reason. That also hints at why my hearing is shot. ;)
BTW, I have a pair of Polk bookshef speakers about the same size as the advents. I like them better, but one is awaiting a new tweeter.