Need Advice Sota Sapphire III + SME IV arm

I would take a Sota and SME over a Rega any day. If your TT has never been played since 1990 the suspension may have sagged and in need of a re-tuning. You should call Donna or Kirk at Sota and ask for advices. They will be more than happy to help you.

I currently have a Sota Cosmos IV in Cocobollo finish with a Graham Phantom and Ortofon A90 which i am very happy with the sonic results. I owned a Star Sapphire circa 1989-90 with SME V and that gave me many years of musical enjoyment before trading it in for the Cosmos.

Contact SOTA. Very nice people. I met them at AXPONA last year. I don't own one of their tables but, would if I was upgrading. The table you have would near (at) the top of my list. Do not trade it in for a newer, generic Rega, Project, Music Hall etc.

I would be wary of returning to the dealer who made that trade offer.

I foolishly did the same thing with a Linn Sodek / Ittok combination and traded for a Marantz (clearaudio) tt. I got $300 off the list price. That was a foolish mistake economically and for audible reasons.

I don't blame the dealer, he's making a living. I blame myself, for not thoroughly researching the value of the Linn and the choices available for moving on from 22 years of living with the Linn.

The SOTA requires set up patience, but you will be rewarded with your perseverance.

Agree with the others; you'd be crazy to trade that in for Rega, unless you
were to net a wad of cash back (of course the reality is they'll ask you for your
table/arm PLUS a wad of cash, which is ludicrous).

Is that really a vacuum model? The Star series III (one step up from the
Sapphire
III) had a 4-point sprung suspension and a vacuum system. The Sapphire III
had
a 3-point suspension and no vacuum. The Star III is more desirable for its 4-
point suspension, but most of these models -- that haven't been refurbished
with a new platter -- will have their silicon platter lip in such poor condition
that
the vacuum hold-down fails (even if the pump still works fine, which it
probably
does).

My Star III (acquired 2007) had a bad lip -- I simply defeated the lip so that
records could at least lie flat on the platter (better than dishing outwards to a
slightly raised lip), and enjoyed all the other fine attributes of this excellent
table. With a quality arm like the SME IV, you'll have one hell of a table
(whether
it's a Sapphire or a Star, but especially if a Star).

I had a Sota with an SMEV that didn't work well together...the arm was too heavy for the suspension. Maybe the IV is lighter and therefore will work better, but find out before spending a lot of money on it.