Has anyone heard the SAT XD1

I forgot to mention that Davey was right to point out there is no analogy between the value or cost of vintage Ferrari race cars and the SAT turntable or tonearms.  I think the masochist in me just loves to tell that story.

It is unfortunate that IME having spoken to a number of college age folks that the overall impression that they have of our hobby is that it is one for the ultra well to do.( they seem to believe this from their exposure to the high priced gear that exists in the hobby, and remember that to most...a thousand dollars is beyond their reach...so when we are talking of gear that costs as much as most people’s houses, well!!) While what lewm says is true, there is a revived interest in vinyl, it has ( from what I can tell) nothing to do with the audiophile hobby, and more to do with the physical media itself.

I thought the most interesting part of the SAT TT review was comparing it favorably to the OMA slate and cast iron TT.
Has anyone heard that one?

While what lewm says is true, there is a revived interest in vinyl, it has ( from what I can tell) nothing to do with the audiophile hobby, and more to do with the physical media itself.

The largest turntable market here in New Zealand by a considerable margin is not audiophiles, it is university students buying DJ decks from music shops - low cost direct drives from Pioneer/Technics et al.

@daveyf 
@lewm 

I forgot to mention that Davey was right to point out there is no analogy between the value or cost of vintage Ferrari race cars and the SAT turntable or tonearms.  

I'm not so sure. I see the arm and turntable quite differently.

From my perspective I could make the SAT turntable myself. The engineering and technology can be purchased through outsourcing quite easily today. My guesstimate would be 25-35k US$ would be more than sufficient. 

By contrast I could not manufacture the tonearm so easily. The costs of the carbon fiber arm including set up would be quite substantial, even here in New Zealand where we have access to world class carbon fiber composition curtesy of our yachting industry. The bearings and metal fabrication are relatively straightforward.

What we dont know is how many hours of designing, specification , producing, testing and trialling prototypes have gone into the design of the tonearm.

Conversely you could produce the turntable straight off the design board. Its not that complicated.

My perception is that the arm and turntable are out of whack with regard to pricing relative to each other.