I've got a Scout with a HOMC Sumiko BP3 EVO, with Musical Surroundings Phonomena, sounds pretty amazing, and I'm shopping for a better LOMC cart now. There's plenty of table here to support a much nicer cart. Mine is the older, acrylic platter model, somehow I like its sound better than the alumninim ones. To each their own.
That being said, one of the best vinyl playbacks I've ever heard was on a Sota table with vacuum platter. Can't recall the arm, but it was glorious! At the salon actually. The vacuum isn't to flatten out warped records, it's to make the record and plater as one, to dampen vibration. And it works.
And I don't know how many records you own, but you should reserve some of that $5k to buy an RCM. A vacuum cleaning machine is almost essential for high end playback of vinyl. I recently bought the Pro-Ject VS-C, very pleased! Better than the more expensive VPI 16.5. Old records are new again! New records are better. Lowers surface noise, keeps your needle clean, major improvements in sound quality. Worth every cent.
That being said, one of the best vinyl playbacks I've ever heard was on a Sota table with vacuum platter. Can't recall the arm, but it was glorious! At the salon actually. The vacuum isn't to flatten out warped records, it's to make the record and plater as one, to dampen vibration. And it works.
And I don't know how many records you own, but you should reserve some of that $5k to buy an RCM. A vacuum cleaning machine is almost essential for high end playback of vinyl. I recently bought the Pro-Ject VS-C, very pleased! Better than the more expensive VPI 16.5. Old records are new again! New records are better. Lowers surface noise, keeps your needle clean, major improvements in sound quality. Worth every cent.