Turntable suggestions?

Well, any advice that omits the VPI turntable line is incomplete. Many people think that VPI's products offer excellent value and build quality, and they also have the advantage of being upgradable as your requirements (and budget) increase. You could start with a VPI HW-19 Jr with a Rega RB300 or RB600 arm, and have a great starter system. Then, as time allows, you can upgrade to the HW-19 Mk 3 or Mk 4. The upgrades that I refer to involve improvements in the suspension, platter, and spindle. The HW-19 Mk 4, which uses many of the parts from VPI's higher-priced Aries and TNT turntables, represents one of the best values in high-end turntables. The AudioAdvisor carries VPI turntables, with and without arms, so you could contact them for more info.

The other obvious choices among moderately-priced turntables are the various Rega models, and those made by MusicHall and ProJect.

Break apart a VPI and a Sota and then decide which one is built better and will deal with "real world" conditions. Keep in mind that ANY vibration transferred through the chassis to the stylus / arm WILL cause tracking distortion.

One of my buddies recently had the "opportunity" to "demolish" a VPI at no cost. He had already owned a Sota and decided to try a VPI based on all of the "hoopla" in audio mags and on the net. Well, the VPI arrived in pretty bad shape even though it was packed like a tank in the original carton and packing. All of that was put in another box with extra packing between them. Keep in mind that the outer box barely showed any damage, so it didn't take much to "obliterate" this TT.

Since the unit was going to be totalled out ( UPS has already paid out on this one believe it or not ), he pulled the VPI apart to look at it. Not only was the unit split at several corners, the spindle was also bent. After doing a thorough inspection of the VPI and comparing it to the internals of a Sota that he was already familiar with, he changed his mind about the VPI and bought a Sota Star Sapphire from the same dealer. The Sota was also shipped through UPS and arrived unscathed ( luckily ).

Besides the quality of construction, the VPI will not deal well with heavy footfalls, suspended floors, LOUD music i.e. acoustic feedback and will require a LOT more isolation to equal the far superior suspension of the Sota.

For the record, let me state that this info came to me directly from the source and was strictly his "opinion" or "preference" based on what he observed. Others may have observations or experiences that differ with the above posted comments. Sean
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Thanks everyone for the advice and feedback. I'm going to take my time to do a lot more research and listening. Sean, a friend of has the Sota Star Sapphire and loves it.

Peace,
Ross

I'm not saying that the Sota is the "end all" of tables by any means. Just wanted to pass on info that you or others might find interesting and "food for thought". Not many folks have actually had the opportunity to do what my friend did. Sean
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SOTA = bad ass belt drive. Take it from a DD owner. Period.