Has anyone heard the SAT XD1

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

 @antinn  Thanks for that. I think the Basis Transcendence is awfully hard to beat, and it is a fraction of the price of the new SAT...even with the Superarm 9 or 12 mounted! 

It is also awful ugly (the Basis). The SAT is plain Jane. Now the Air Force Zero, that is a piece of work. $450K

You can do anything if you throw enough money at it. The trick and the point of this hobby is to get as close as you can without spending a fortune. 

Music Rules

Davey, I can't agree with you that stratospheric product pricing such as we see with regard to SAT is going to ruin the hobby.  On the contrary, I see it as one more sign of life.  For youngsters or first-timers who want to play vinyl, SAT is a total nonentity.  Most of them will never have heard of SAT, except perhaps as some sort of weird joke.  In the last few months, I have been contacted by two separate friends for vinyl system recommendations. One is my 30-something nephew in Michigan. The other is the son of my best friend who wanted to buy a vinyl system for his teenage daughter, to fulfill her birthday wish.  They ended up with turntables in the low end of the spectrum, cost-wise, that can be ordered any day of the week from any of several vendors on-line.  The fact that a 15 year old girl wants to get into vinyl is another sign of vigor, even though she may never want much more than what she is starting out with.  (I sent her a few jazz LPs to get her going further.) That end of the market is very healthy, so far as I can tell.  In each case, appropriate electronics were chosen to go with the turntable.  For others with bigger bucks, as you note too, there is a plethora of new and used turntables that perform at a very high level for reasonable cost, relative to the SAT. (You can use the SAT as a reason why spending $10,000 or more on a turntable is "reasonable".)  That was basically my message to you in my last post.  By the way, based on antinn's description of the SAT, it seems the Dohmann Helix, with its built-in Minus K platform, would also come into play as a great buy at a reasonable cost, especially used. I've heard that one, and it is one of a few belt-drives that have impressed me in the past few years.

The 250GTO was sitting in the rear service area at Luigi Chinetti's Ferrari dealership in Greenwich, CT, in 1971.  Next to it was a 250LM, the first mid-engine Ferrari race car.  Next to that was a Daytona Spider, a real one.  The asking price for the 250LM was also $12,500.  The Daytona was essentially a nearly new used car at that time and was priced at $23,000.  In the late 60s, the going price for a low mileage 275GTB was $6-7000. You could buy one every week at that price.  I actually thought about financing either the GTO or the LM, but I decided I would also need a garage, which was a no-go for me at that time. Of course, I would do differently if I had a second chance.