Does Anyone Know the History of the Early Sota Turntables?

I don’t use these AI programs very often but I decided to try ChatGPT and Co-Pilot and see what I could find. They found references I did not in my searches. Co-Pilot says 1" thick 6061 aluminum plate laminated with Baltic Birch ply. Other AI and search engines say its made of aluminum with no reference to Baltic birch. I wonder if they are mixing up the sub chassis in this answer.

For motor Co-Pilot says

The SOTA Sapphire Gen 1 turntable uses a Papst motor.The motor typically requires an unregulated power supply with an output of 28 to 36VDC, 0.15A or greater. Chat GPT was less useful.

The first generation of the SOTA Sapphire turntable typically used a high-torque, low-speed AC motor.

The condition of this table is excellent. The suspension is level, does not have any sag and meets the specs for Sota set up parameters. The finish on the top plate is a perfect matte black, and the frame looks like it might have a polyurethane finish, which makes me think someone has done some level of restoration on this table.

Since the platter is aluminum, I am using a rubber and cork mat on it, with a Sota I-Clamp. I also put on a Cosmos acrylic arm board I have in place of the original MDF one. The arm and arm board allows the table to balance with only a minimal amount of shot needed in the arm board cup. The suspension needs 2.2 pounds at the tonearm spot to balance, so I doubt many arms from back in the day were out of spec for what a SOTA could accommodate.

I have a Cosmos Eclipse with vaccum here, so I know how a Sota should set up. This table is meant for casual use, and for a low mass version of the Audiomods Series Six arm so I can use my Ortofon MC2000 on it. I have one that is OEM minus a new diamond, and one with a boron cantilever that is my casual use cartridge. I paid a modest amount for this table, and I do not expect it to keep up with the Cosmos or my Scheu, but I will say its very respectable in most ways, and an enjoyable table to listen to.

I wonder if many of the faults/limitations about sound referenced in this thread come down to other aspects of analog. Whether it be tonearms, cartridges, phono stages, or perhaps even the arm board materials. As the first one was MDF, and then they made a thin aluminum one before moving onto acrylic/aluminum. Because I think this table sounds pretty respectable as it sits, and I can spend the night listening to it.

Are you the same individual who posted this question on AA a few days ago? I responded under the signature Low IQ. I am getting a bit more info from these replies to help fill in some missing links.

I don't know much of the history, but older Sapphires started out with a 3-point suspension. Late models (V and up?) use a 4-point suspension. 15 years ago, I briefly borrowed an older 3-point Sapphire (w/ the gold colored platter), along with the Koetsu-branded Jelco arm, and my very first Koetsu (Onyx non-platinum short body = samarium-cobalt).

The 3-point suspension seemed more "springy" and less stable than 4-points - thus it also seemed more sensitive to footstep disturbances / etc. Star (later called Nova) and Cosmos models always used 4 points. Cosmos is most stable of all (more than my Nova), probably due to the aluminum subchassis' extra mass. But any 4-point SOTA is really, really good. The 3 point tables are still very good, but this is an important distinction IMO. I assume the 4-point might also handle a little more arm mass - though my FR64fx's 2.2 lbs is near its limit (I was told 2.5 lbs max).

In theory, shouldn’t a 3-point suspension be more stable than a 4-point suspension, all other things being equal? I guess all other things are never equal.

OK, David Fletcher was behind both Sumiko and SOTA. The first table Marketed by SOTA was the Sapphire. I had an original one with a Syrinx PU3 Tonearm for almost 40 years and it is still in use in a young audiophiles system. All I ever did was replace belts and lube the bearing. I never had any problem with stretched springs and can only assume these turntables were misused perhaps by using tonearms that were too heavy. The PU3 was a perfect arm for that table. The motor was an AC synchronous with a synthesized drive. You could adjust pitch. The bearing was inverted with a hardened steel ball on a sapphire thrust plate. The platter was aluminum and rang like a bell. I used a felt covered glass mat which was very effective in controlling the ringing. 

This was a landmark turntable. It was the first stable suspended turntable effectively isolating the cartridge from everything over 3 Hz. SOTA would become the first to provide vacuum clamping in a consumer turntable. Through the years the table has maintained it's essential character, but with steady evolution in bearings, platters, mats and drives culminating in the current Cosmos which has a 1" thick sub chassis like an SME. 

Over the years the company has passed through two different owners, the current being Christan Griego. Christan is starting to move the company away from it's core product in a direction some of us might not like. The New Millennium will not be suspended and will allow the use of three arms of any weight. Sota is also working on a direct drive turntable which is also not suspended.  David Fletchers main contribution to turntable design was the hanging suspension tuned to 2-3 Hz. This was a far more stable design that was eventually copied by Avid, SME and Basis. The problem is heavy and /or multiple arms upset the suspension. It would have to be retuned and possibly re springed to accommodate arms of various masses and numbers. Therein lies the real challenge, developing a suspended turntable that will allow the use of heavy and multiple arms without having to resort to major restructuring, something the owner could manage at home. 

Make sure you get a new belt and clean the rim of the platter with brake cleaning fluid until you cloth or paper towel does not turn black. A worn belt will cause a marked increase in wow and flutter. Be very careful with the arms you try. Stick with 9" arms of intermediate to lower mass. The SME IV and V are good examples. Origin Live and Rega arms work well and IMHO the Schroder CB is the best arm for that table unless you can find a Syrinx PU 3 in good condition. I thought so much of my Sapphire that I now own a Cosmos Vacuum table handily the best value in a high end turntable even with the new price increases.