Basis Turntables: Worth it or Ripoff?

Rip off is kind of harsh. Maybe because you’re not enamored with the visual aspects of the Basis turntables? Sometimes it’s a trade off or compromise. I can’t comment on the sound of the Basis turntables or their build quality but I would believe the poster’s comments on here that they are indeed fine turntables and you could probably find a used one for a good price.
Of course the ultimate goal is the sound quality. I’m sure you can find a table that sounds good and pleases you visually too.
To me, the Basis tables are little boring visually.
What’s more important, looks or sound? Or, must you have both? That’s the goal for me. It has to be both unless the deal is too good to pass up. Then, I would settle for just sounding good and can live with the looks.

First off, thanks for sharing guys.  I too have Primary Progressive MS.  The Mandell MS Center in Hartford, CT is on the cutting edge of things.  I started with Howard Weiner as my primary doc.  He was the best for me when I started this journey.  Was blessed to be seen by him.  My doc now has MS himself and can relate to it all.  I am part of a long term genetic study at NIH.  They fly me down twice a year and we are doing amazing things.  I'm very involved with the CT chapter of the MS Society as well as nationally and I'm also active/advocate with Trinity Health Group.  I still have ideas even though I can no longer implement those ideas.  That's why we are all a team.  Back to audio, lol.

Mijosten, I understand that many won't look at a product due to looks.  As for saying their tone arms aren't as good as someone else's because of their pivot, that is plain wrong. AJ's arm's are considered of the best in the world.  Which ones did you audition?   If you don't like how they sound, that's totally different.  Would love to hear your views on the sound of each table and what other components you heard them with as that's the most important thing (arms, system, Cartridges, cables, phono and the rest of the system).  

The other tables you speak about have sounded great for me also.  (for what I enjoy hearing).  There are a ton of great tables on the market now.  Very few are rip offs as the OP was asking (even though it's a veiled attempt to run down Basis).  We are blessed that we can get a full set up under 1k that is fine for those of us who just want to play albums when someone else can help set it up, lol. 

There are many good tables on the market, and that certainly includes the Basis tables.  The particular strength of Basis is very tight manufacturing tolerances.  You will not see any rotational wobble, platters are carefully balanced, and one rarely hears about manufacturing related problems with the tables.

Most of their tables are designed to damp vibration created by the stylus tracking the groove so that this energy does not feed back to cartridge.  This does impart a particular character to the sound--the Vector Arm and Basis table combinations tend to sound "dark" and not as "jangly" as some other tables.  To some, this is a very good quality, to others, the sound might seem a little "dead."  I own a Basis Debut with a vacuum clamp and a motor controller, so I like its well damped behavior (the rest of my system is lively sounding so this might be a case of synergy). 

 

ctsooner, I have not listened to either Basis arm so I can not make any comments on how they sound. I have spent a lot of time playing around with Graham arms. I will not even look at unipivots for myself because (and this is going to sound a bit harsh) they are mechanically incompetent and you can see it just lifting the arm! A tone arm has to hold the cartridge rigidly in the appropriate orientation to the record with only two degrees of freedom, up and down, side to side. Wobbling on axis is just plain out of bounds. I do not think it takes a mechanical genius to see this. It is popular because it is a cheap easy way to make a tonearm. You just have to plop the thing down on a single point which in the case of VPI arms wears out frequently. It is much more expensive and difficult to use fine bearings and get them oriented and loaded perfectly. 

A unipivot does have the freedom of movement to rock from side to side.  Whether this wobble actually occurs when playing a record, and the degree to which such motion will adversely affect the sound, is the subject of much debate.  But, the Vector arm is NOT a conventional unipivot.  In addition to the pivot point at the top of the arm, there is a second point perpendicular to the main vertical pivot that stabilizes the arm.  The Vector arm is weighted to lean in one direction (clockwise tilt if you look from the front of the arm toward the pivot).  That tendency to lean toward the right is resisted by a horizontal pin that contacts a bearing around the axis of the main vertical post/pivot.  By screwing that horizontal pivot in or out, that stabilizing pivot also allows for precise setting of azimuth.

This design means that this is NOT a unipivot--it has two pivots, and it is stabilized from any kind of rocking motion.  As with any design, this involves some, at least theoretical, disadvantages, such as an increase in friction in the movement of the arm.