Thanks! A great description of the session. I was lucky enough to attend the session in Doug Brady's in Warrington, and my experiences matched yours; I even bought the London Grammar LP (it's 2 x 45rpm discs, so that may somewhat explain its high quality). I came out very impressed to hear the gradual improvement of the sound, however, when I got home and started to play some of my LPs on my system, I was not disappointed in their quality (phew!). It just made me appreciate what was available. I'm not going to spend £3000 on a cartridge (worth more than my car) unless I win the lottery, but it was good to hear what's possible!
Thanks for the good write up.