Went through this decision last year and was almost unanimously encouraged by Audiogon members to refurbish my SOTA Star/SME V combo, so that's what I did (it's nearly ready). However, I was looking at a replacement price range well under the gear you're considering.
We have probably both gotten used to the low noise floor of the SOTA. I figured "you don't know what you got 'til it's gone," so I kept the rig. I see another poster has expressed the same sentiment re: the virtues of the SOTA/SME V.
Thanks for starting this thread. I'll be watching, but I can't give you any input on these tables and arms, and I'm not trying to sway you one way or the other. Just thought my very similar experience might be of interest.
Specifics of the $3k+ renewal (I wasn't interested in packing and shipping everything to SOTA, so I took the TT to my local high end shop where I bought the table long ago):
- new TT bearing and springs (motor is still good - who knows how long?)
- sent SME V to Alfred Kayser in Canada for disassembly, cleaning and new bearings, as well as new internal wiring - continuous length from cart to preamp
- new Audio-Technica ART9XA cart (had to switch out preamp's internal MC resistors to get more gain for .2mv output)
