recommendation for a high end analog system

@sandthemall, I retipped the 103r with a Shibata asymmetrical tip and sapphire cantilever and changed the epoxy body to solid aluminum. So, I think the cartridge is decent, IMO. The current arm Sumiko MMT (really Jelco) has an effective mass of 20 gm; which fits with 103r (likes a tone arm on the heavier side as you know).

Mijo, I now understand what you mean by a plinth “cover” wrt the SOTA turntables, but the term is unnecessarily confusing. It’s inherently part of the plinth. Yes, the armboard is part of the sprung substructure so it rides a bit lower than the stationary part of the upper plinth. Thus the deck can foul the counterweight especially of well designed tonearms that place the CW in the plane of the LP surface. I had that issue w the TP on my SSIII, but was able to resolve it.

FWIW, having owned and used both, I’d say the Phoenix Eng stuff ( now available as Eclipse for SOTA) does a better job w Lenco motor than the Walker, which does not offer the benefit of tachometer feedback and has a much lower power output. The Walker is way better than nothing, however, especially w the very low power consumption Notts motor.

Listen to jazz. 

@mijostyn,

Keeping the dust cover on while playing means no TP arm for SOTA. It is not that easy to find a tonearm with an easy VTA control whether on the fly or not. I was interested in Origin Live, but the VTA control is not easy.

So lose the dust cover. Mijostyn is in the minority who believe that the dust cover does more good than harm. I wouldn’t let the dust cover control my choice of tonearm. But better yet, make up your own mind based on listening. You might end up agreeing with mijostyn.