Carl-is that stone hard-or soft.
Are the hard to polish spots soft?
we get all sorts of wacky stuff to polish.
Hertron makes a hardening agent and a calcium product along with a crystallizer that may work without steel wool-although the steel wool gives it better results.
The products are prime grind #2 the hardner
product A which is the calcium product and product M.
I know it sounds a bit odd but it works.
If you let the stone dry out before using the M component which is the crystallizer. You may be able to use steel wool with out getting any black marks. If you do get some of those black marks a little polishing compound will take them out.
The Burnisher with a 11000 grit pad sounds like the easiest option however.
Have you ever used Vortex pads-they have a 4 pad system that actually works.
I mean you cant compare it to a powder polish but it may get you off the job.