recommendation for a high end analog system

@mglik 

A lot of people are raving about 1200G. How long have had it and how durable is it?

@dover , The Tri Planar is a great arm. Donna specifically told me that the current Tri Planar will not fit without cutting away part of the plinth cover. I was seriously considering it.
@lewm, although SOTA has not mounted one yet I believe the Reed 2G will fit. It was another arm I was considering. I got a dimensional drawing of the 2G and it will fit but it will require a light tonearm board. In the end I did not go for it because of the way the tonearm cable attaches to the arm. You would have to cut a notch in the dust cover to bring the cable out on top of the plinth. It does not make for a neat installation. The Schroder and Origin Live arms have cables that exit under the tonearm board which makes for a much neater installation and does not interfere with the dust cover.  I went with the CB because it meet all of my primary criteria in a very elegant way. It has one wire from cartridge to RCAs without any connections, it is neutral balance so VTF does not change with elevation, The vertical bearing is at the level of the record minimizing warp wow, it has frictionless anti skating and the bearings are top notch.
The new Cosmos comes with the Eclipse motor system which I will report on once I have the table which I put a $4K deposit on 3 MONTHS AGO.
bkeske, I also have a high output Soundsmith I am dying to hear.
chungjh, you really do not want to consider a different turntable. Once you are use to the bullet proof performance of the Sota and it's top notch isolation you will be unhappy with most other turntables including all of the VPIs. The Sota may not be the fanciest looking table out there but darn does it work well. 

@mijostyn,

I have to agree that SOTA is bullet proof. My friend's system that I was raving about at the beginning has a 30 yr SOTA.

The only thing with TP with SOTA is that the counter weight sticks out and the dustcover won't close while playing.

@mijostyn

bkeske, I also have a high output Soundsmith I am dying to hear.

I bought the high output Zephyr before I got my phono pre (when setting up my Sapphire for the first time) that I know can drive a low output cart. I love my Zephyr, but am really considering the MIMC Lo version of the Zephyr now. Or perhaps step-up on the Soundsmith line with one of Peter’s other Lo output offerings.

chungjh, you really do not want to consider a different turntable. Once you are use to the bullet proof performance of the Sota and it’s top notch isolation you will be unhappy with most other turntables including all of the VPIs. The Sota may not be the fanciest looking table out there but darn does it work well.

I agree whole heartedly