Ultimate Turntable search...OMA K5 or ?

Mike, I finally found a good diagram or anatomical drawing of the workings of the Esoteric, on your thread on WBF.  That drawing is worth a thousand words.  Now I see how it works.  It is a rim drive where nothing touches the rim, which is probably what you were trying to say.  Until now, I envisioned that the motor was situated directly well below the platter such that the rotating magnets were concentric with the platter itself, as is the case for the Transrotor TMD and the EAR Disc Master, where in both of those cases the rotating magnet structure is driven by a belt from an outboard motor. In shorthand, the Esoteric is a contact-less rim drive.

Art is a personal thing. Every machine has an aesthetic factor, but if I interviewed 100 people who visited the Guggenheim Motorcycle exhibit I would get 100 different opinions as to which was the most beautiful bike. Look at the opinions of the OMA table on this thread. It is ugly as hell. IMHO all of these tables are ugly but the OMA takes the cake. I think the Basis Inspiration is the best looking table made. The principle driver  behind which of these luxury turntables someone choses to buy is the aesthetic one, not sound quality. I might add that given the same arm and cartridge it is highly unlikely anyone could reliably identify any of these turntables blinded. I actually doubt anyone could tell them apart from an RP10. What you see determines what you hear when sonic differences are subtle. 

What Michael Fremer owns is not a good indicator of anything. According to reliable sources his hearing is shot. You have to yell at him to have a conversation. He does have what must be the worlds largest private record collection. Kudos.
 

@lewm 

Just what you want directly under your cartridge, rotating magnets with alternating poles no less. I envision the cartridge bouncing along. 33.3 bounces per revolution. Could this be Hip Hop?

 

In the case of the Esoteric, the rotating magnetic motor is outside the circumference of the platter, as in a conventional rim drive. But the skirt around the circumference of the platter itself is ferromagnetic in order to respond to the driver. One has to assume that Esoteric engineers accounted for potential issues, one of which would not be to induce up and down motion of the cartridge, I think.

Dear @mattdrummer  :  " is my interest in time accuracy. Thus, direct drive. Time domain is just better with direct drive. And it’s that lifelike transient response that I am after.  "

The main any good design characteristic is speed stability, with out that characteristic your statement never appears. Transient response is where MUSIC natural color BORN in a live event or home reproduction.

Esoteric is not really good about and at its asking price I think is a poor performer:

0.01% and w/f a really poor 0.06 % when the SP10MK3 shows: 0.001 % ( speed ) and a w/ 0.01% and those specs are critical for what you are looking for can appears.

The OMA through reviews and by its site speak of several importan TT characteristic but you can't find out any of those specs , even less information from the other DD by SAT.

TheTT you are looking for needs to have no sound by it self, it should be jus: blackness and if you read reviews of MF the TTs develops all kind of souen levels because in reality he is reviewing the tonearm/cartridge combinations.

Now, all audiophiles including reviewers own different roo/systems and more important is that even that all of us like the MUSIC reproduction this does not says each one of us MUSIC taste is exactly the same because each one of us has different MUSIC reproduction priorities.

So you need to trust in you and your fist hand experiences. Now if OMA shows you with its TT measurements that at least even the Technics MK3 specs in the K5 then you can decide for it.

I doubt OMA can shows you any  critical audio item specs. They like to talk and we can read in its site ( example ) tha its phono stage is way accurated on its RIAA and guess what: no single spec about anywhere the audio world.

Now, you can look to these SP10 MK3 of this Agoner gentleman:

Living Room | Virtual Listening Room (audiogon.com)

and you can choose the tonearm or tonearm of your preferences and a plattform as the Minus-K or the top of that line and you will have that precise transient response.

Several audiophiles do not like or do not care about specs and I could understand their way of audio life because they choose what they like.

You have the xperience need it to choose a new TT. Trusting in manufacturers could be or not a good strategy because at the end the manufacturer wants that you buy its products.

You like OMA and OMA convince you about its products but what that gentleman Jonathan told you:

" would explain to me the benefits of high efficiency speakers and low wattage tube amplification and I was quite skeptica..... "

 

it's not exactly true. His main issue is that he manufacture speakers, electronics, TTs an the like and he at the end is a seller.

 

 

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

 

 

Plus the original SOTA Mat and Basis Audio TT clamp and you are done with the Technics.

 

R.