Basis Ovation / 2500 vs Sota Cosmos IV

I have a Basis Ovation (owned since around 1990 or so), which I had upgraded to add the Debut's platter, bearing and vacuum system after about 12 years. It is an excellent table, extremely well-engineered and machined and well-isolated from vibrations, if that is a concern for you. It's suspension system is extremely effective and well thought-out. Great-looking too, even after all this time. The original Ovations had one quirk I did not like, in that you had to change the belt pulley (with the smallest Allen wrench you can find, it seemed) to change from 33-1/3 rpm to 45, but the new motor I got when I upgraded the table has a dual drive pulley, and I got a Walker Motor Drive before that anyway to change speeds without changing the pulley. The Ovation was preferred by some to the Debut when it came out because, supposedly, its thinner plinth made its reproduction of dynamics a little crisper than that of its bigger brother; however, my one criticism of the table, and it's a minor one, is that it seems to lack the last word in transient sharpness, mid-bass definition and dynamics compared to a table without an acryllic plinth (like the SMEs). You might find that translates into a slightly "darker" sound than you're used to with your SOTA (which I also liked a lot at the time). I have heard the original version of the SOTA Cosmos, and preferred the Basis to it at the time, but it was more a matter of my taste and available funds (it was more expensive) rather than quality, as it too was an excellent TT; can't comment on the latest version of the Cosmos, but I believe you'll hear from its admirers in this thread, it's a fine product.

I don't think the armboards are interchangable between the Ovation and Debut, my recollection is that the Ovation's is more rectangular.

I will add that my Ovation is essentially a Debut V vacuum with the upgrades (as AJ told me at the time, the only differences would be the narrower plinth and the different, but equally effective, suspension), and the upgraded table is a better table than my stock Ovation was--much quieter background, a "bigger" sound, and no more problems with warped records (even though the Ovation's clamp was very effective).

If you have a chance to listen to one of the bigger Basis tables, you should do so. I think you might find your SOTA to be a little "livelier" sounding on rock, not sure if you'll prefer it one way or another.

No problems with mine in perhaps 5-7 years that I've had it. The pump isn't overly noisy, and they give you enough hose to keep the pump well away from the table and your listening location. The other thing that's nice is that you can adjust the air pressure for the hold-down, so you can use the least amount necessary.