Mijo, You wrote, in reference to the K3: "It's three failings are it's lack of isolation, a dust cover and vacuum clamping."
I think your orthodoxy is getting in the way of your logic. If you read MF's review, you will see that instead of "isolation", which to you means springs, air, or the Minus K, the K3 uses high mass plus internal fluid dampening, in the plinth, motor, and in the platter. So it is inaccurate to say the K3 does not give a thought to the dissipation of spurious energy, which after all is the purpose of a "suspension". Further, how do we know it does not have a dust cover? I have never known MF to display photos of TTs with their dust covers in place. The only dust cover I find handy is one that protects the platter from dust when the TT is not in use. They're easy to fabricate, but of course that would be beneath the dignity of anyone who can own the K3. Further, further, vacuum clamping does not come without its sonic costs. (It certainly added an audible coloration with my SOTA Star Sapphire III, albeit that was 25 years ago, so I will assume SOTA does better with vacuum clamping these days.) Note also that not every megabuck turntable is wedded to vacuum clamping. So it is an arguable benefit or detriment, depending upon implementation. There's a couple of vacuum mat accessories on the market these days, so anyone can have that feature if it is wanted. (I think OMA would go into shock if any buyer added a $1000 or so vacuum mat to that mammoth damped platter.) My major point is that neither you nor I nor anyone else who has dripped vitriole on the K3 has ever heard it. Surely you would not dismiss such a product out of hand just because it does not fulfill your 3 favorite fetishes. We dismiss it because it costs $360,000.
