Has anyone heard the SAT XD1

davey, I think your point or what is driving your responses is that you are angry/upset/unhappy with the prices.  Life is too short for that sort of fretting, so far as I am concerned, but you are entitled to your huff.  I am more pissed off that a 1962 Ferrari 250GTO could sell at auction for more than $30M, because I neglected to buy one in 1972 that was for sale at $12,500, from a reputable Ferrari dealer who was also the North American distributor at that time.  (Of course, my salary that year as a medical intern was $8500 plus an apartment for me and my wife.) Try not to want the SAT turntable and tonearm, and you will feel a lot better.  We can agree the prices are ridiculous and so what?

lewm, you miss my point, and maybe it hasn’t been made clear enough in my prior posts. I really couldn’t give a darn if Marc Gomez wants to price his stuff in the ether, the only one who is going to suffer from that is himself. My point is that the continued unabated upwards pricing structure by so many high end manufacturer’s really is NOT good for the overall health of this hobby ( as my friend stated, it is now basically ’comical’),as evidenced by the many younger folk who look at these pricing points and decide to take a pass on the whole hobby. I personally have absolutely zero interest in the SAT turntable, as IMO there are plenty of other competing designs that I think would be a) more appropriately priced, b) give close to or similar performance and c) are far superior looking.
BTW, IF you saw a Ferrari 250GTO in 1972 for $12.5K--and didn’t get to buy it, i dont think this is quite analogous to being able (or not) to buy the SAT table for $282K today...unless the little SAT is going to be worth millions in the future! Maybe,LOL.

daveyf

Do explain how my experience, your experience, or anyone’s experience with the table has anything to do with the asking price of this product?

Sure.
There is no substitute for experience. It’s that simple.

Oh, I forgot, you are able to purchase this table with your pocket change, isn’t that right...and think it is a value proposition.

Similarly, snark is no substitute for reason.

I really couldn’t give a darn if Marc Gomez wants to price his stuff in the ether ...

You seem to care about this very much. Why so coy?

Cleeds ,once again audio guru, what does experience have to do with the asking price of this table??

So, here is a perspective, an opinion,

For these upper priced tables, there appears to be about a 3-4:1 ratio between the table the tonearm. With the SAT arm already at $50K, to market a matching table, the table has to cost $150K-$200K. Its part of the brand exclusivity. We see similar type brand-pricing everywhere - cars, watches, etc.

However, from my perspective as someone with an engineering background, this table is not breaking any new state of the art. The motor is a modified Technics; the base is a modified Minus-K isolation platform and as far as the plinth, magnesium alloy has been known for over 50 years to provide superior damping qualities. The SME magnesium tonearm is not by chance. But the review does indicate that a lot of machining was done in Switzerland by the same group that machines parts for Hasselblad (that has a $48K camera w/o lens). So, it is a object where no expense was been spared.

It would have been nice to know how much benefit did the modified Minus-K base provided. You can buy a Minus-K platform for abut $5K - Thin Low Height Vibration Isolation Platforms & Bench Tops | Minus K. Otherwise, the design is very compact and compared to others could be very appealing, especially those that already have a SAT arm. Is this table going to be trickle-down - no; the primary technologies - the motor, the base, the plinth are all tried and true - but not necessarily together. And, it is entirely possible that the table & arm form a ’magical’ synergy that the whole exceeds the sum of the parts and it sounds awesome. But, how does it compare to say the Basis A.J. Conti: Transcending Perfection — Basis Audio - that Fremer has never reviewed - TAS RH got the scoop on that table.

Yes, the cost of the extreme upper echelon of audio has reached staggering heights - along with the incomes of the very rich; and of course where this is desire - someone is going to fulfil it. However, there are so many other lower cost awesome products that it would be a shame for some to view this hobby-pursuit with contempt, because they will miss-out on the journey if they choose and the enjoyment of so much awesome music when played back through a nice system.

Just some thoughts