EMT turntables as good as other great vintage TT?

Jtinn and Vetterone,
Why do you emjoy the EMT direct drives over the idler tables?

Can these still be found outside of specialty dealers in their native environments like studios etc.? Lastly, is there anyone who services these in the USA? To someone who has never seen these tables outside of the internet the questions seem unending. Does anyone use these in Chicago or even in the USA? Bob

The 948's come up for sale every now and then. I would venture you will pay 3500 and up depending upon condition. I paid $11000 for a brand new one I found in Europe. I have never had a service issue on any of mine and they are really built like tanks.

I totally agree with Steve that changing the arm and armboard and bypassing the internal phonostage really elevates the performance greatly. All of this is fairly simple to do.

BTW, I think the reason that the 930 and 927 are more expensive is only the rarer nature of the tables, not the performance.

It would be informative if one of you EMT owners could clarify the nomenclature. I know that the 950 is direct-drive and that the 927 and 930 are idlers (or I think that is the case). But where do the others fit in? And what is the accepted gospel on which of the direct-drives and which of the idlers are the best in terms of performance? (I gather from Vetterone that the 950 is tops among the DD EMTs.) Thanks.

I am currently using EMT 927 with ortofon arm and 139st phono stage.
First of all my opinion.I consider the 927 the most musical turntable I have heard.Since using the 927,I am not interested in hearing the last nuance of the 3rd oboe in the fifth row,i quite simply enjoy the performance.
Some turntables are more `hi-fi`,but none more musically satisfying.I find the EMT idler drives more musical than the others.
The phono stage on EMT`s is of paramount importance;the 139st is quite simply the best.The limited variable EQ is also of huge benefit.
I have previously owned SME 30,Forsell AFO,Goldmund Reference,Versa Dynamics 2.The last two were the best I had previously owned;I have also compared these with Rockport Sirius 2 and many others not worth mentioning.
It is very amusing for me to see modern turntables been touted as `worlds best`,at exorbitant prices,which do not hold a candle to the Goldmund and Versa,let alone EMT.
The EMT 927 is not cheap,do not confuse e-bay items with a properly serviced EMT from a reputable dealer.EMT 927`s in top variations sell for over 50,000 Euro`s in Japan,they know what quality is.
Do yourself a favour,ignore the opinions of others,and make the effort to hear one.If you value musical enjoyment over Hi-Fi detail,then there will be no going back.
I have gone overboard and bought a second one!

Hi Channel10,You are speaking my words.I have the same
setup as you do.EMT 927,Ortofon arm and 139st.I have
also the other preamps 139 Mono,155st and 153st, but
they are not even close.
I bought also the EMT 997 arm just for the good looks,
but I don't think I'll install it since everything is
so good now.
I've been close to going overboard too.