Calling all Sota fans.

@lewm , lewn, I like that :-)  It is Dohmann by the way not Doehmann.
Mark thinks that efficiencies in manufacture down in Australia will bring the price down enough that adding vacuum clamping and the dust cover will not add much. He is talking about $60,000, not chump change But, compared to other "ultimate" turntables, I could see myself doing this. There is no way I am going to buy an Air Force Zero. Mark has also become enamored with Schroder's LT arm and I believe he will be offering it with his tables. That arm is brilliant. It uses the friction of the stylus in the groove to drive the arm. 
A little hard to get back into it once you have sold all your records. 

jaym759, nice to hear from you again. I am glad you are enjoying your Cosmos. Donna has another customer who is thinking about putting a 4 Point 9 on a Cosmos. For some strange reason she wanted me to talk to him about it. He has an Origin Live arm which he was very unhappy with. Another story of poor customer support from Origin Live. Disappointing. They are not bad arms but this is the third or fourth sad example.

@chakster, A bargain? I would quantify it as financially irresponsible. IMHO, you have to be out of your mind to spend that much money on this antiquated format. But, what do I know. Unfortunately, I am just the type of silly person to do it.

Putting a straight line tracker on a suspended turntable is a bad idea. It will change it's level as the arm moves across the record. I have no idea how much but it will certainly change. 

@sbank , @neonknight , You both have it exactly right. In order to get significantly better performance than a Cosmos Eclipse Vacuum you have to spend $72,000 on a Dohmann Helix and Schroder LT tonearm. This is the next step for me if the money becomes available. If not than I am not in what you would call a bad place.

@lewm, isn't that something! A turntable from a designer built on the concept that complete isolation is the key to the best high end turntable. 
I was itching to stretch for it but the vacuum system had not been completely designed, then Mark told me he was also working on a dust cover. I stepped back and figured I'd go for one once it had those two important issues settled. It was a good thing because COVID cut my income severely forcing me to spend reserves. 

Before I bought the Sota Cosmos I looked at several other tables carefully, Basis, SME and the Kuzma Ref2 and M. I would have like to have gotten a Schroder LT arm but it requires a table that can take a 12" arm. Sota's do not. I looked at the Kuzmas in detail and I have nothing bad to say about them. They appear well made. I could have gone for the M but I did not trust it's isolation and there was no way for me to test it in detail. I went for the Cosmos Vacuum and Schroder CB instead. The Basis and SME tables are IMHO overpriced. The Sota has a magnetic thrust bearing, vacuum clamping, a great drive system and a suspension I know works. It is also a joy to use. You don't have to be super careful around it. You can put your hand on while playing, even bang on it and you will hear nothing on your speakers. It has a friction hinged, isolated dust cover which you can close during play. For all the tables except the M I would have to make one.
It might just be that old people do not like change..........

@cleeds , Thanx. 

All you hear are glowing reviews from Sota Owners. Except from lewm,
He did not like his. I think it was a speed instability he did not like.

Here is a review on an updated Cosmos https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/sota-cosmos-eclipse-turntable/

@cleeds, I have seen a Helix but not heard one. I am very familiar with MinusK platforms. The Helix is a MinusK platform with turntable stuff mounted on top. My enthusiasm and endorsement is based purely on the Dohmann's design characteristics. It has or will have all of the features I care about in a turntable. Others may have different criteria or prefer taking advice from other people. 

Yes, finally. I put my deposit in 8 months ago and I sold my old Sota at about the same time. This is the longest period of time in my entire life from the age of 4 that I have not been able to play a record. Boggles the mind.

@lewm , I have no idea why. It is a 3 phase AC synchronous motor. Synchronous motors are best for turntables because they will automatically adjust torque to maintain the speed dictated by the AC signal they are given. It happens instantaneously. I suspect they are just miss-informed. 

Sota has been producing tables, but at a slower pace. They can't find help like the rest of us. People would rather stay home on unemployment comp. Of course those are the people you do not want to hire anyway.
My table is currently being built although I can't get an estimate out of Donna as to when it will be delivered. Can't wait, I have something like 20 new records to play!

I have stated on many occasions that the Dohmann Helix is my ultimate turntable. Mark Dohmann is an aero-space engineer and very much like Peter Ledermann. He is very approachable.  I have had several discussions with him asking about the Helix and additional upcoming features including vacuum clamping and a dust cover. I never asked which less expensive tables he liked but the Sota is no surprise. He is totally focused on isolation of the cartridge from extraneous vibration. His dust cover is going to be designed specifically to isolate the table from airborne vibration. Sota approaches all these factors albeit in a less ornate fashion and it is the only turntable to do so. 

@dover,  you can get around the recessed arm board by modifying the plinth cover. The real problem is weight. The suspension is adjustable within reason but there are limits and many tone arms, particularly with VTA towers are just too heavy. 12" arms need not apply. But, the Kuzma 4 Point 9,  the Schroder CB and I believe the Reed 2G will fit and these are excellent arms. The Tri Planer will fit with modification.

@neonknight , just a slight correction. The new motor is a 3 phase AC motor. All Sotas use an AC motor of some type.  

IMHO the Sota Cosmos Vacuum is the best turntable you can buy when you factor in cost. My completed Cosmos Vacuum with a Schroder CB arm cost me just shy of $14,000 including a dust cover and reflex clamp. The next turntable I would consider would be the SME 30/2, more than twice the cost. After the SME it's the Dohmann Helix 2. The Sota Cosmos Vacuum does everything the Techdas Air Force 1 does at 1/10 the cost. Perhaps it does not do everything quite as well but at 1/10 the cost I'll take the Sota thank you. The Sapphire remains the all time best value in a high performance table.