Table and arm combos in 13k range

+1 on the SOTA
I wanted a new turntable. I was originally looking at their Moonbeam and Comet (leaning towards the Comet). I did ask what they had in refurbished turntables.

I ended up getting a Sapphire with an Origin Live Silver tonearm and an Ortifon 2m red. I got to order it from Donna (the owner). She knows her stuff. When she found out where I lived she told me I could pick it up on Sunday. I live an hour away from the factory. It was a nice Sunday drive. 

I got it home and set it up. When I played my first record. I knew I got it right. I had done a lot of research before my purchase and this is the first turntable I have ever bought. All my others were free cast offs and hand me downs. It replaced a  late 70's Panasonic.

A month later I upgraded to a Soundsmith the Voice cartridge. The 2m Red is now installed on my parents' Sansui turntable. I had already decided not to go down the MC cartridge rabbit hole. This is a phenomenal setup. Could I do better? The short answer is yes. I feel that I am at my own point of diminishing returns. I could buy a better tonearm and cartridge, but I would probably spend more on that than I did on the whole setup. It is nice to know that I have room to grow.

In all I am very happy with my SOTA. Their customer service is excellent. I got to meet the owner. I can always trade up or have my table upgraded. I don't have the vacuum platter. I like to keep things simple. If you feel you need to spend all of your $13k get Nova or Cosmos. Their Millennia Eclipse with the vacuum platter, Enterprise tonearm and Dynavector XV-1s is $12,860. They do stock the Origin Live Enterprise. They can get Soundsmith.  

If you don't spend all of the $13k on the table you would have some money to spend on other vinyl related stuff. Like a better phono preamp, step up transformer and MC cartridge, or a record cleaner. Even better yet... more records!

Brock, That’s a nice story, but the OP is talking about a $13K expenditure. For that much dough, he can do a whole lot better.

I only bring this up, because mijo is constantly praising the SOTA  products. While I agree that they are an excellent company, and their turntables are well thought out, I would note that for about 10 years I owned a sota star sapphire with vacuum. It was only after I moved on to a Nottingham analog Hyperspace with a motor controller that I realized how poor was the speed regulation on the sota. By comparison between the two, the bass response of the Sota was consistently muddy and piano notes were routinely unstable in pitch, for two examples. All suspended turntables are subject to this dilemma: when you mount the motor on the base and the platter and subassembly are on springs, the belt is subject to stretching as the suspension reacts to external energy. The stretching of the belt inevitably results in speed irregularity. Different companies including sota now address this issue in different ways, but one ought to be aware of it.The simplest solution of course is to mount the motor on the same suspension as the platter, but that brings with it issues related to the vibration of the motor itself, etc.

My platter is magnetically suspended. I wasn’t suggesting he get a Sapphire. Just saying I am happy with mine. They also have a new motor controller system. I am not sure if they addressed the mechanical issue. I need to listen to more piano. I haven’t noticed a problem. I need the suspension for my Decware Imperials.

I do respect your opinion. You had one and lived with it. You found something you felt was better and you are happy with what you have.

We've installed Triplanar arms (even the 12") on the Technics SL1200G, which makes for a state of the art machine. If you don't go for the 12" arm you'll have a budget for nice cartridge too.

Or how about Triplanar on SP10R (comes with no plinth and no tonearm)?  That would fall within the OP's budget, if one can find a suitable high quality plinth for the SP10R.  Technics charge about an extra $10K for the SL1000R (the SP10R in a plinth with a tonearm) over the SP10R, which I think is a bit excessive in light of the bargain that is the SP10R .