Some tables have soul and some not

terms like soul or musicality are so vague that they mean almost nothing to me. all i know is i'd rather listen to music via my SME than other turntables i've owned: LP12 for 21 years, rega p3/24 in a second system for 3 years.

The problem with metaphors is that anyone is free or allowed to have his own reading or interpretation. This way we may surpass the MM thread...

Regards,

A starting point would be outlining the characteristics of the sound hat leads to a feeling of soul.

Yes, the term "Soul" may be vague, but I know it when I hear it. My ARXA has soul in spades. My Well Tempered has soul. I think both my Thorens TD 166 Mk 11 and Space Deck lack a bit of soul in comparison. My Sota had no Soul whatsoever. I remember some audio reviewer asking if a particular big buck major turntable could "boogie" because "many of them cannot". This I think is similar to the Soul issue. I'm sitting here trying, but I just can't actually define "Soul" I think speakers also can have or have not "Soul" Perhaps because they too are "acoustic" instruments rather than electronics. Like a fine violin or cello, this comes from a mechanical/acoustical sound created by the materials of their own composition. Even the varnish on the wood can affect the sound, as well as the Soul.

I think you (Inna) are conflating "soul" with what Harry Pearson first called a "dark" sound. And having owned a Notts Hyperspace, I can agree that on that basis the Notts had soul. I am going to guess that tt's with big heavy platters and belt drive, especially where the belt is rubber or anything with compliance, will be said to have soul. This is NOT a bad thing, IMO. On the other hand, I would say that, comparing my Kenwood L07D to my Technics SP10 Mk3 (two very fine direct-drive tts with rather heavy platters, as dd tables go), the L07D has more soul than does the Mk3. Maybe core-less motors (a la the L07D) also tend toward soulful sounds. And this topic is NOT worth 6000 posts, Nikola.