Upgrade Sota Comet or buy a used table?

I think you could do alot better for a little bit more money by moving on to something else. Please don't be insulted, but remember, the Comet is a "starter" table. You alredy bought it once and now you are thinking about throwing $800.00 back into it. Now, you may Love your Comet, but do you really know how much better and even magical sound you can obtain with something else? I would suggest a used Spacedeck, or Well Tempered Classic. They both are "real" tables that could relieve you from the upgrade bug in the future. But thats just me, if you are hot for VPI like everybody else here, then consider that too. I had a Sapphire for years and even after much tweaking and factory upgrades (Sota loves upgrades, hint, hint) it was easily bested by even my humble '70's AR with a homemade arm. I mean it was no comparison. Yes, this move will cost you more than $800.00, but you will be set for a long time unless you eventually decide to spend an insane amount of money on your analog set up.

I would think you would be much better off staying in the Sota line. trade them your table for a better Sota...a refurbished Sapphire or Star... Good company

Those of you who are comparing a Sota Sapphire from the 80s to the present version are missing 25 years of improvements. there is no comparison. the current version is much better than the 80s version, however, the late 80s early 90s series III is no slouch. Much better than the black top early versions.

So far I have got a lot of good advice and opinions. I really have multiple options now. New tonearm or a complete rebuild and keep it for awhile, and trade up later. Then again I could just take my upgrade money and buy a better used table.
Please continue to offer any other ideas that I might want to explore, my goal is as always, the best bang for the buck. I would like to keep what I consider a pretty decent Blackbird and not have the added expense of a new cartridge.