Developing A List Of Tonearm Candidates For A SOTA Turntable
So this month i sent my SME V off to a new home, and that leaves my SOTA armless. My other table has a schroder CB-1L on it and I have run either an Ortofon Verismo or Transfiguration Proteus on it. I did put both those same cartridges on the SME on the SOTA and it always had a disappointing presentation of harmonics and texture. A monochromatic sound could be the best description I have. Time for another arm.
The SOTA armboard restricts the type of arm that can be installed. The arm types that have a VTA tower and separate pivot point take up too much real estate to fit. So fitting something like a Wheaton, Reed, or Durand does not seem possible. I wondered about elevating the arm board so its level with the top plate, but I am not sure if there is enough room for the want to pivot without removing the dust cover. It is a possibility, but I wonder how it effects the travel of the suspension. and if there are unintended consequences. I have yet to read about any SOTA owners doing this.
So I am trying to put together a list of candidates. I do know some folks appreciate the Origin Live arms, but I am not very well versed in their lineup. I have wondered about the Groovemaster arms also. I have looked at the Moerch, but its kind of a fiddly thing. The point is the table is on the sidelines at the moment because there is no arm in place. I typically shop the used market, but I can be patient and wait for the right arm to come along. The benefit of having more than one table i guess.
Anyone else have any suggestions. Appreciate your thoughts and experiences.
lewm, you must be right or that combination wouldn't have been so popular. I've owned a large number of turntables over my years in this hobby and the majority of them were suspended. But the compliance of their suspensions could be quite different. One was an early generation Oracle which seemed to get out of balance if you breathed on it wrong. ;^) So I assumed most tangental arms work best on tables without much suspension, meaning not much more than their feet. |
Well I have finally gotten some information back. Looks like I can fit the Origin Live Agile to the table with a custom made arm board to meet the weight requirements of the suspension. So the plan is to fit it to the SOTA and I will install the Transfiguration Proteus on it. I will hold the Audio Tekne in reserve as option 2. Now we need to make the final arrangement and get it ordered. |
@neonknight, please let us know what you think of the Agile. It's an arm that has long intrigued me. |
Part of this process was deciding how to consolidate my analog stuff. I was looking at a way of improving upon my second table, and maybe just maybe buying a great table and running just one arm on it, perhaps one that would have displaced the SOTA. As I looked at my options, I really did not see something I could afford off the pre-owned market that would substantially raise the bar from where I am. I also had to ask myself if the rest of the system in this room would benefit from this change. Well the Scheu motor one day did not turn on when I flipped the switch, tossed it again and up we go. Break out the contact cleaner and give it a mist, and thought we were OK. Two weeks later it happened again, so I pulled my ad and figured it needs a deep cleaning or a new switch. It is probably a $20 switch, so no big deal in the giant scheme of things. So I took the money and ordered the Agile tonearm and thought I was good. But in my heart of heart, I came to grips with the idea that I still want to listen to my Ortofon MC2000. I had a conversation previously with Jeff Spalls and he said its possible to build an arm in the single digits of mass from previous Audiomods parts combined with certain aspects from the Model 6. So i sent an email to him saying could we do this? I am scheduled in early August to have an arm built. So in the end I parted with 2 arms, a phono stage, an MC3000 II, MC5000, MC200, a set of Focal Stellia headphones, Channel Island headphone amp stack, and a Tara Labs power conditioner. I am looking forward to hearing the SOTA Cosmos Eclipse and Origin Live combo, and believe this will be a very nice sounding table. |
