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

I have been happily using a SOTA Star Sapphire turntable since the 80’s. It replaced an AR Turntable (yes, I am that old) and later a very modesty priced Techniques. The later were rather susceptible to footsteps on my old wood floor. However, it sounds like this is no longer an issue for the high-end models. I do have my turntable on a butcher block slab with high-tech footers, but I have never tried to do an A/B comparison without them (too lazy, I guess). Also, I never compared my SOTA to a Techniques or VPI. I recently upgraded to the Cosmos using a refurbished SME VI arm and a Soundsmith Paula cartridge. If you are still considering a SOTA , you might give them a call. I enjoy my conversations with Donna, talking about audio and anything else. She was very fond of the Jelco 750 and Hana cartridge combination as well as a Dynavector. For the well funded, she liked the Origin Live arm as well. Good Luck.

Ralph it was not misinformation. We had several of them from different manufacturers in the store and we compared them at length with SP 12's and a Goldmund Table. They were all lifeless in comparison and all of us heard the same thing. I sold a bunch of them at Luskin's and had I don't know how many people complain of the way they sounded. Luskin's was a box store that never took anything back unless it was defective out of the box. Not sounding good did not qualify back then. Nothing like having to deal with a pissed off customer. At Sound Components we did not have that problem. We sold everyone LP12's .

As for Sota's vacuum clamping system there are two important details. 1st is a much better mat that matches the mechanical impedance of vinyl. Second is the compressor switches automatically to a low pressure mode once the record is clamps. This puts much less vacuum on the record and also saves the compressor from having to do a lot of work. It is perfectly safe but, you can still buy a Cosmos without it. On top of this the new Cosmos has a magnetic thrust bearing like the Clearaudio turntables abolishing bearing wear and halving the noise. Then there is the Eclipse drive system (which I have not heard yet) which by all accounts is extremely accurate and stable. Rumble is a more serious consideration for me than the difference between 0.02 and 0.03% wow and flutter. Then there is a fine suspension and an isolated dust cover. These are all items I have to have. I can make them myself but my wife would rather keep me building cabinets and furnisher. I could have bought an SP10R used the same turntable and built a suspended plinth with a dustcover. I chose not to. Old habits die hard.

They were all lifeless in comparison and all of us heard the same thing. I sold a bunch of them at Luskin’s and had I don’t know how many people complain of the way they sounded.

There can be a lot of variables and especially back then, the platter pad was a big one one that was ignored. I know the person (Warren Gehl of ARC) who designed an ambitious platter pad which did well controlling the LP resonance as well as that of the platter- and any machine that had one sounded better than one without (once the arm height issue was sorted). IME it didn’t matter if it was DD or belt; that platter pad was more important. It weighed 5 pounds so not every machine could work with it.

FWIW Sumiko acquired the rights from Warren and the mat went on the Cosmos, because Sota was owned by Sumiko at the time (IIRC this happened due to Allen Perkins’ association through my first dealer, before Allen left Sumiko). But Sota changed the formula after about 100 ’tables were made so they didn’t have to pay Warren the rights (again IIRC). This is why I had an early Cosmos (serial number 0, later destroyed by FedEx). All this went down prior to Donna and her husband acquiring Sota.


Since I’ve got one of those pre-Sota platter pads I can set it up on any machine that will handle it. It works a treat on the Technics. I did like the way the vacuum system got rid of rumble, most of which is really just warp.

Ralph is a mentor to me so I hate to correct him and I do so with trepidation, but stylus velocity is not a determinant of skating force. Just saying.

It is so great to have people with long histories in this great hobby and also the phenomenal memories of what went down long before I got interested in a "stereo system."