Lewm, good question.
During this thread I have spent more time reading articles and opinions regarding Dr. Feickert's tables. His tables seems to resolve two issues that I believe will technically lead to a better sounding table than the Scout that I own.
First, the Scout is susceptible to external vibrations. A small footfall and you have a 60Hz sound going through your speakers and low bass sounds from my speakers seem to find their way back through my system. Not frequently, but I just feel like there is better here. The VPI Classic 3 seemed to have mitigated the external resonance issue as well, hence the reason why I had chosen it first.
Second, Dr Feickert focused on speed stability as well. I measured the Scout and it was one to two revolutions slower than 33 RPM. I did this because some records sounded slow. I didn't noticed this when I first purchased it 4 years ago so I presumed it was due to necessary TT maintenance ( new grease, new belt, changing to a new 300 RPM motor). I felt like I had no recourse if the maintenance didn't fix the performance. Dr. Feickert's table allows more adjustment precision.
I put a high priority these areas of technical excellence. It has to be ultra quiet and ultra stable. I just want something that is rock solid as a platform, so I can the focus on upstream components. I may go to 10K for this very reason.
In addition, and probably equally important, I am looking for a classic looking table. Something that is technically excellent that looks too modern/technical is not going to work for my significant other. I've shown her pictures of the tables suggested here and she wasn't impressed by the aesthetics regardless of price or performance. I'm sure some of you understand. Besides, I like the classic look as well.
Once I decided I was not going to go VPI this time around, I wanted to commit to another brand. Why not hear all of my albums all over again through a different design ( a different ear). This is why I listed some suspended tables.
So in looking at my short list, you see two turntables that are classic looking and likely to be technically excellent. I hadn't heard any of my audio gear prior to purchasing. I've relied on recommendations and articles. I do like the setup that I have currently, but I would like to step up. There is a risk in that this will be my most expensive audio purchase to date and it could flop. I could fly to CES in Jan to listen to the table as Dr. Feickert with be there, but its bound to sound different than it would in my system/environment.
During this thread I have spent more time reading articles and opinions regarding Dr. Feickert's tables. His tables seems to resolve two issues that I believe will technically lead to a better sounding table than the Scout that I own.
First, the Scout is susceptible to external vibrations. A small footfall and you have a 60Hz sound going through your speakers and low bass sounds from my speakers seem to find their way back through my system. Not frequently, but I just feel like there is better here. The VPI Classic 3 seemed to have mitigated the external resonance issue as well, hence the reason why I had chosen it first.
Second, Dr Feickert focused on speed stability as well. I measured the Scout and it was one to two revolutions slower than 33 RPM. I did this because some records sounded slow. I didn't noticed this when I first purchased it 4 years ago so I presumed it was due to necessary TT maintenance ( new grease, new belt, changing to a new 300 RPM motor). I felt like I had no recourse if the maintenance didn't fix the performance. Dr. Feickert's table allows more adjustment precision.
I put a high priority these areas of technical excellence. It has to be ultra quiet and ultra stable. I just want something that is rock solid as a platform, so I can the focus on upstream components. I may go to 10K for this very reason.
In addition, and probably equally important, I am looking for a classic looking table. Something that is technically excellent that looks too modern/technical is not going to work for my significant other. I've shown her pictures of the tables suggested here and she wasn't impressed by the aesthetics regardless of price or performance. I'm sure some of you understand. Besides, I like the classic look as well.
Once I decided I was not going to go VPI this time around, I wanted to commit to another brand. Why not hear all of my albums all over again through a different design ( a different ear). This is why I listed some suspended tables.
So in looking at my short list, you see two turntables that are classic looking and likely to be technically excellent. I hadn't heard any of my audio gear prior to purchasing. I've relied on recommendations and articles. I do like the setup that I have currently, but I would like to step up. There is a risk in that this will be my most expensive audio purchase to date and it could flop. I could fly to CES in Jan to listen to the table as Dr. Feickert with be there, but its bound to sound different than it would in my system/environment.