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Need Advice Sota Sapphire III + SME IV arm

I recently inherited my grandfather's SOTA Star Sapphire III TT equipped with a very nice SME IV tonearm. He probably bought this back in 1989 or '90 and it was never played. He bought some Infinity IRS Beta speakers and I think he just thought he needed the best of everything to put with it - but he really just played CDs at that point.

I've never had a vacuum TT before and am debating on what to do with it. Other than needing a new cartridge everything works great! My current system is Paradigm Monitor 9s with a Rega Brio-r.

I took the table in to my local Hi-Fi store that I bought my other equipment at and they were advising me to trade it in a get something like a Rega RP-6 instead. I'm not sure how to estimate what the SOTA and SME IV would sell for but I don't think that I am getting good trade in value...

Any advise on whether to just get a new cartridge (something like a Dynavector 10x5) and keep the SOTA or should I look in to selling it and get something like the Rega P6?

Thanks for any help!
Eric
enschicago
effischer
560 posts
 
I have a non-vacuum Sapphire III I bought new back in the day and recently upgraded by Kirk to V platter, suspension & external power supply (motor was fine). I went with a Graham arm and XX2 Mk II from my (sadly non-repairable) Magnepan Unitrac I & 17D3.

The SME IV is really something and with a refurbishment of the table, you will have about as close as you can get to state-of-the-art without dropping stupid money. That isn't to say a refurb will be cheap. It won't. However, if I were you, I'd spend whatever Kirk suggests to get the mechanicals up to snuff. It will be worth it.

I am a huge Dynavector fan. Their carts are smooth, natural, neutral and tight. With your speakers, and as good as it may be, the 10X5 won't even scratch the surface of what you could achieve with that table and arm. I strongly suggest you save some $$$ and go for at least a 20X2H (or better, the 20X2L if you are willing to go low output).

If it were my $$$, I would go low output with the 17D3. Get the VTA set right, and the 17D3 would make your system come alive. You could also consider the XX2 Mk II, but you want to be really sure that is the way you want to go before diving in.

Just my 2 cents, regardless. Good luck & happy listening!
jperry
2,448 posts
 
With regard to your Monster Alpha cartridge I think you should send it to Andy at phonocartridgeretipping.com for inspection and see what he has to say. You may be fine or it may just need a tune up. I think the cost for inspection is about $30.
lewm
13,049 posts
 
I owned a Star Sapphire Series III w vacuum for many years in the 90s. If you keep it (and I too would never trade it for Rega), you might consult SOTA to not only repair or replace the lip on the platter but more importantly in my opinion to upgrade the motor mount such that the belt is not stretched when the suspension flexes. The biggest flaw of my SSS III was pitch instability caused by the fact that the motor was mounted to the chassis while the platter, of course, is suspended by the springs. When the suspension was activated by any mechanical vibration, the belt would be stretched minutely, causing pitch to be altered. In the Cosmos and later models, they fixed that issue. OR, deactivate the springs and treat it like an unsuspended tt.
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