DIY TT

@holmz , you really can't take a Sota apart. The cover (that is what Sota calls it) has the three feet attached to it and the sub chassis which has the main bearing and tonearm board is suspending inside from 4 damped springs. In all but the Cosmos the sub chassis are MDF and composites and not very attractive. The Cosmos sub chassis is machined from billet aluminum and is very cool looking but I still would not use it without a proper suspension. The Sota suspensions are precisely tuned for a certain mass which is why Sota makes specific weight tonearm boards for various weight arms. Some arms like the Kuzma 4 point11 are just too heavy for it. David Fletcher, the original designer of the Sota did not even consider anything larger than a 9-10 inch arm because as @rauliruegas has mention, given the physics involved it is silly to do so. 12" arms are bad news regardless of what anybody thinks they hear. I would trust the science way before anyone's hearing. Unless you want to buy a Dohmann Helix one, the best way to have a second tonearm is just get another Sota. You can get 6 of them for the price of one Dohmann:-)

I got the Garrott Bros p77i running today, and played 20 LPs (parts of them anyhow).
It was pretty enjoyable, and that cartridge was sounding pretty nice.

There is the eclipse more and roadrunner option for the Sota, and I was expecting that to be able to be done in the field. I do have a lathe and access to most shop tools… but we will see, and the idea of a long shipment is distressing.

But as it is playing now, I am a but happier than yesterday.

Pindac, I did some research on line.  From what I can tell, the DP80 was optionally equipped with a gunmetal platter MAT by some end users.  Not a gunmetal platter.  There was back and forth discussion of the benefits or lack thereof, on Audiokarma. Perhaps that is what you meant.

Like it (Mijostyn) or not (me), a Sota Sapphire in a different plinth (or "cover") is still a Sota Sapphire.  Not much innovation or creativity is involved.  I thought Holmz wanted to start from scratch. The best thing one could do for a Sota Sapphire is to equip it with the Sota Eclipse mod.  That would be a much bigger benefit to its performance than would a new plinth. My opinion, of course.

I had used the A&R Cambridge P77 many years past and have still go the main body stored.

This was the Cartridge that I felt was most impressive out of other MM's when used on my Belt Drive TT and in the early stages of my use of Idler Drives.

When I am done with my MC days, when the ears don't justify the expense of purchasing one.

I will be trying out the P77 once more, with a new Cantilever and Stylus along with my AT - 150's and HOMC's I have in the Cart' collection.

To be clear, I did not intend to say that the SOTA sapphire is uncreative ; I meant that to start with one and only replace the cover (see Mijo definition of cover) does not involve innovation with respect to the starting material.