SOTA Nova

I recently upgraded to the Cosmos IV and have a VPI TNT Jr. The VPI is an excellently designed TT, but the Cosmos is musically and in terms of "involving" me, in a higher league. The same with the Sota Sapphire that I previoulsy owned. A word about Kirk and Donna: I noticed a crack in the wooden chassis of the Sota, which was entirely my fault. Kirk gave me a brand-new chassis, at no charge and refused my offer to pay him for the damages! How do you beat this kind of service? They are two of the classiest people in all of audio and I can't say enough good things about them and their product. Needless to say, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment if I were you, and would buy the Sota.

By the way, I use an Origin Live Illustrious and Shelter 901 on the Cosmos, and they match and sound awesome.

"The bearing was occasionally making a slight ticking noise. That was 2 months ago. I am still waiting to hear from them"

Its true they are not fast on turnaround but this is the price you pay for personalised service and access to the owners. My upgrades took about 3 mos.(including 2 weeks of shipping)However I was able to speak directly with Kirk who walked me through some setup procedures and did some inspection work for no fee. This is the tradeoff with smaller companys. I would rather wait and get the excellent service and workmanship than take my chances as another "number" with a larger service dept. It has also been my experience that very few boutique audio manufactuerers offer
fast service and with most your lucky to get service at all.
Try waiting for something from Clearaudio for example a much larger company with a large chain of distribution. Youd be lucky to get service in 3 mos.
just my $.02

I too am considering upgrading my current turntable to a Sota Nova.  I have a Systemdek IIX currently.  It is a good sounding turntable (that I already own) and the price and weight of the Nova are a little daunting for my budget.  However, after reading all the superlative posts about Sota, Donna and Kirk, I feel like ordering one and writing them a check in a heartbeat.

Being the proud owner of a SOTA STAR NOVA V / Vacuum platter for the last 10 years has allowed me to set it up and play it with absolutely a problem free experience with no regrets  Can't complain with one replacement belt in that timeframe.  Donna and Co offer some of the best CS in this industry.  They actually pick up the phone.  The upgrade path is always available should you choose to take it.  Some things are just hard to measure and describe with a component of this stature.  This may sound strange however, the level of blackness in the background has to be experienced to understand it  My Lps just do not sound the same on anything else.