Turntables currently considered top of the range. Do you know what they are ?

@lewm, to supplement what dwette says above, the Master Innovation upgrade is pretty close to buying a second Innovation turntable with all of the parts count that goes with that and that is what the price reflects.

The new Clearaudio Unity arm is also pretty amazing.

M Fremer reports that these later turntables beat the Caliburn:

• SAT XD1
• Techdas Airforce Zero
• OMA K3

A budget choice for top sonics is Esoteric Grandioso T1, wish it was within my budget.

Some ~50k choices:

• CS Port LFT1
• Dohman Helix 2
• J.Sikora Reference
• Continuum Obsidian

Yeah, buy them all, compare in your system, keep the one and sell the rest. Now that's the approach.

@yoyoyaya @lewm

That’s mostly correct. The Master field upgrade for the regular Innovation results in a full Master Innovation. There is no difference whatsoever between an upgraded Innovation and the retail Master Innovation. The cost of the upgrade is pretty much the difference between them. The Innovation (with no tonearm) is ~$15K + ~$19K for the Master upgrade. The Master Innovation is ~$34K (no tonearm). I am referring to prices for the piano black finish since that is what I have. The regular Panzerholz finish is about $2k less (or $1k each for Innovation + upgrade).

I have heard the Master Innovation with the 9" Universal arm and Clearaudio Statement Goldfinger cartridge on a Boulder/Dynaudio system. It was really impressive.

@dwette - yes. I am very familiar with all of Clearaudio's lineup.

If you have the opportunity, try to get to listen to the same combination with the Unity v the Universal - there is a significant difference.