SOTA NOVA, HR-X VPI, Technics 1200G recommendations?

I think Technics philosophy is very simple:


1) compact plug and play unit is new 1200 series (great price from $900 per unit like mk7, $1700 for GR and $3500 for G).


2) reference “R” series for people who would like to use their own plinth, different tonearms (2 or even 3 at the same time) they have just the drive (SP-10R) with external power supply. The motor is the same as 1200G series. And when the buyer would like “everything reference class” from Technics they got complete system called SL1000R with SP10R drive, plinth, tonearm.


In my opinion, people who always blabling something about “vibration” are living in the earthquake area, probably right on top of the vulcano or very close, becase I really don’t understand what they are talking about!? Using over 6 turntables at home I never ever noticed any audible problem with vibration, I’m using custom made metal racks on parquet floor. 

Vibration is a problem on the dancefloor packed with 500 jumping people near 10 000 watts sound system - this is where turntable definitely must be seriously isolated. But even there you will see Technics DD in use!

But at home, when it’s just you and your system .... What vibrations are you guys talking about? Manufacturer already solved everything for home use when turntable was designed by professional engineers. They got their isolation feet (dramatically upgraded 1200 new series), also on SL1200 they can be replaced with isonoe suspended feet if needed.


In this high-end industry nobody want “good enough”, they always want “better”, but then it’s the road to infinity if you have money to pay more and more

Lewm would be talking about me. And there are several issues which he and I have fundamentally opposite views. 

An isolated turntable like the SOTA is very obviously better at protecting against foot fall skipping which on anything other than a concrete floor can be a problem for analog lovers. Having to tip toe around is aggravating. DJ's use DD tables because of the torque which they need to slip "Q" and create other effects. Dance floors are usually concrete so, there is never an issue with foot fall skipping. Isolating the cartridge from extraneous "vibration" is critical for the best sonic performance. The cartridge is a very sensitive vibration measurement device. It will gladly pick up any vibration passed through the turntable or even the air. IMHO isolation is more important than the utmost in speed stability. The difference between the best belt drives and DD tables is extremely minor and by all accounts inaudible. Those of you who do not have suspended turntables place your tonearm down on a stationary record and turn the volume up. Go look at your woofer. I will be bouncing to one degree or another. That is environmental rumble. It will occur even on concrete floors. If you have a properly suspended turntable your woofer will remain in neutral position without any movement. Subwoofer users are going to be more sensitive to this for obvious reasons. Lewm does not use subwoofers. Airborne vibration is also a problem and might possibly be the reason some people prefer heavy tonearms and stiff cartridges as they will be less affected by this than light arms and compliant cartridges. The solution to this is an isolated dust cover, hearing protection for your cartridge. The Sota offers both a well designed suspension and an isolated dust cover. Lewm had an older Sota that apparently had speed stability issues. His table may have had issues but, that issue, if it was one, has been permanently solved by Sota's new drive train which will hold on to 331/3rd like a pitbull. On top of this Sota offers vacuum clamping which in the opinion of many is the best way to hold a record down, remove minor warps and dampen the record. 
How much of a sonic difference does all this make? No idea. I have never run that comparison. You would have to put the same tonearm and cartridge on an example of each type of turntable and make an AB comparison playing identical copies of the same record. Would be fun to do. The rags are not interested in proving anything at the cost of losing a advertiser.  We have to do this sort of thing ourselves to learn anything and it is expensive. However, the foot fall problem is painfully obvious and there can be no question that a properly designed suspension solves this problem.

Dance floors are usually concrete so, there is never an issue with foot fall skipping.

Usually wooden floor if we’re talking about nice small venues, but there is an issue with floor shaking (or stage shaking) if it’s not a warehouse with concrete floor or a club in the basement. But in all those public venues at least 100 people are moving and dancing.

When we are listening at home we’re normally in the listening chair and nothing going on. 1-3 people chilling in the room while some record spinning on the turntable. I assume we have a good wooden table or a metal/wooded rack on spikes for turntable and I believe there are no neighbors hammering the floor or the wall while we are listening to the music. So what kind of vibrations audiophiles are talking about ? On microscopic level it must be absolutely irrelevant for a proper turntable, because it was designed for use just like this without anything special under the table. 

Mijo, I don’t know which of my posts you’re referencing but my last post was just to remind us why sometimes high effective mass is necessary and that low compliance with high mass is in my opinion not the prime cause of record wear so long as VTF is comparable to that of a typical higher compliance cartridge, eg, 2g or less. I don’t think you’d disagree. I want no part of arguing about suspension vs no suspension. There are too many variables.

Having the removable head shell with a few twists of the screw, and putting on a new head shell, and only having to take 3-5 minutes adjusting the weight is so nice.
we use 4 different head shells and this is a huge plus!