recommendation for a high end analog system

@lewm , no argument from me. However it is not the duct cover that the Tri Planar in interfering with, it is the plinth cover. Because the Tri Planar drops down in the rear and that the Sota's tonearm board is recessed the counter weight runs into the cover. What people think is the plinth on the Sota is just a cover. The "plinth" is really suspended inside from the base plate. You could make the Tri Planar fit by cutting away that part of the cover that would be behind it but Sota will not do that themselves because they think that is cosmetically unacceptable. You could do it yourself. My own thinking was that the Schroder fits perfectly and is on par with the Tri Planar so why start chopping things up especially since this may not be my last turntable. I still have my eye very much on the Dohmann with a Schroder LT.

bkeske, When I was getting the "Voice" I asked Peter what the difference between the "Voice" and the Sussurro (a low output version of the "Voice") was. His reply was "larger coils in the Voice." Since the coils are fixed and there is no reduction in moving mass with smaller coils my next question was "then why is the Sussurro $2K more expensive?" He said," market economics." I also asked "then why wouldn't the "Voice" be a better cartridge having a much lower signal to noise ratio." His reply, "It is." He said that he only makes low output cartridges because they are more profitable and people want to use their fancy, expensive high gain phono stages. They are stuck on thinking low output cartridges sound better. Then I got the Strain gage pitch. Which I would like to hear. I thing the Hyperion is too expensive to make to justify a high output version. People who buy high output cartridges will not spend $7K on a cartridge.

@mijostyn

bkeske, When I was getting the "Voice" I asked Peter what the difference between the "Voice" and the Sussurro (a low output version of the "Voice") was. His reply was "larger coils in the Voice." Since the coils are fixed and there is no reduction in moving mass with smaller coils my next question was "then why is the Sussurro $2K more expensive?" He said," market economics." I also asked "then why wouldn’t the "Voice" be a better cartridge having a much lower signal to noise ratio." His reply, "It is." He said that he only makes low output cartridges because they are more profitable and people want to use their fancy, expensive high gain phono stages. They are stuck on thinking low output cartridges sound better. Then I got the Strain gage pitch. Which I would like to hear. I thing the Hyperion is too expensive to make to justify a high output version. People who buy high output cartridges will not spend $7K on a cartridge.

Yep, I’ve heard Peter say the same/similar. That’s why I think the Lo MIMC Zephyr is probably a great deal for $2K new. That is the one I keep leaning towards for a Lo cart. I’ve just heard that my Hagerman Trumpet really performs best with Lo carts, albeit it sounds great with my Zephyr. And really, that is my major interest; getting the most out of my Trumpet.

The Strain Gauge is a whole nuther  animal. I would love to hear it as well. Pretty amazing in theory really.

As far as raising a tone arm above the ‘plinth’/cover, I have a Jelco TK-850 MKII, and have thought about adding a VTA on the fly adjustment mechanism. Problem is it would hit against the wood ‘plinth’/cover. But, you can find a Jelco 1/4” spacer and add it to the Jelco mount to raise it up, and I’ve heard that works. I’m sure you could do the same for other arms.

I do not use the/a SOTA dust cover. When I do cover it, I have a custom soft cloth cover I use. To be honest, the cover isn’t on much. I play albums most every day.

@dorkwad  when you say...

“I used to have a Maplenoll Ariadne TT/arm which was excellent sounding. The Illustrious is a very good sounding arm that is a significant upgrade in all ways from what I had before.”

In this regard you put an OL Illustrious on the Maplenol? What to your ears did it improve, and be how much?

@ianderson,

The Maplenoll was very quiet, smooth, excellent bass, and most everything sounded beautiful on it.  After reading my post again, my comments on the OL Illustrious II had to do mostly with arms I've had since the 'Noll.  The OL Illustrious II Is more detailed, dynamic, with  more grunt in the bass.  I never put a different arm on the 'Noll.  The only real issue I had with the 'Noll was the delivery of the air to the arm.  It took very little air to move the turntable but much more to keep the arm working correctly.  Twice I had something between the pump and the TT disconnect because of the high pressure pump.  The TT would keep spinning, but the arm would freeze and thus become very rigid.  The cantilever's on two different cartridges snapped from the pressure of the stylus being stuck in the groove.  Very expensive with good cartridges.  A significant portion of the better sound of the OL over the 'Noll is because of the modded Lenco.  

My original post was to be mostly a praise for the OL Illustrious II arm in my system.  The simplicity of its use is also very appreciated since using the Trans-Fi Terminator arm along with the Pete Riggle Woody--both very fine sounding arms.  The OL Illustrious II is just better at everything sound wise.  It might be a 15-20% improvement overall.  I now have a used Walker Precision Motor Controller, but have yet to install the IEC in the back of my Lenco build to actually use it.  From what I've read from others who have, it should make a noticeable improvement in the sound along with keeping the speed perfect, and having a toggle switch to change the phase available.  

My apologies for all this info on the OP's thread.

Bob