recommendation for a high end analog system

How much difference is there between Origin Live MK4 and Conqueror? The price differential is not that great. There are SME V's on sale but they seem much more expensive. Any thoughts?

@Chungji,

As has been mentioned, your biggest issue is a cart and arm mass mismatch. Start there and solve that first...then re-assess. 

Then there is the stylus itself. The Denon 103r is a great conical...it's gutsy but it will not give you the detail of a great microline.

Lastly it's about dialing the cart in.

@sandthemall, I retipped the 103r with a Shibata asymmetrical tip and sapphire cantilever and changed the epoxy body to solid aluminum. So, I think the cartridge is decent, IMO. The current arm Sumiko MMT (really Jelco) has an effective mass of 20 gm; which fits with 103r (likes a tone arm on the heavier side as you know).

Mijo, I now understand what you mean by a plinth “cover” wrt the SOTA turntables, but the term is unnecessarily confusing. It’s inherently part of the plinth. Yes, the armboard is part of the sprung substructure so it rides a bit lower than the stationary part of the upper plinth. Thus the deck can foul the counterweight especially of well designed tonearms that place the CW in the plane of the LP surface. I had that issue w the TP on my SSIII, but was able to resolve it.

FWIW, having owned and used both, I’d say the Phoenix Eng stuff ( now available as Eclipse for SOTA) does a better job w Lenco motor than the Walker, which does not offer the benefit of tachometer feedback and has a much lower power output. The Walker is way better than nothing, however, especially w the very low power consumption Notts motor.

Listen to jazz.