Clearaudio Ovation vs Kuzma Stabi R

I've only heard Clearaudio tables at shows and while they sounded ok they didn't move me. What I can say without hesitation is whenever I've listened to the Stabi R it has the rhythm and pace that no other table I've heard has. I've heard it with both a 4Point & 4Point9 and honestly I'd happily live the rest of my days on earth with either. You asked about detail? I feel it's your cartridge choices that this will make the most differences. The cartridge I heard at the dealership was a SoundSmith Hyperion MR. Good luck in your own journey but I'm saving up for a Stabi R.

@rsf507 can you tell me a little more about what you mean by Clearaudio just sounding OK? Like middle of the road bland? And ok the Stabi, can you tell me how you felt it sounded better to you? More drive or emotion? I currently run a XV-1s and am very happy with the cart. 

Hard to put into words but when I heard the Clearaudio it just didn't have the life or energy that other tables had. No connections to the music for me. Now the Stabi R was just the opposite. It had foot stomping rhythm. Several times I got chills while listening, just some unforgettable listening sessions. 

I've heard the XV-1s and did like it but felt it was a bit forward sounding which could have been the speaker setup, who knows. 

This is one of the big obstacles in truly evaluating good gear- you have almost no way of comparing tables or arms at a dealer, even assuming one handles both lines, since you need to eliminate all the variables. I have had several pieces from Kuzma and like the products and the support- have spoken to Franc many times and in the States, Scot Markwell, the distributor, is as good as it gets. 

I also run a 4Pt 9" on my vintage system (in addition to the XL/Airline in my main system) and the arm sounds great. The only drawback- which I don't see as a big negative, is no VTA on the fly, but I'm more of a set up, adjust and leave it alone listener (even with VTA on the fly on the Airline). 

I haven't done the research but would be curious if there any dealers that carry both lines who could, in theory, do such a demo in a controlled environment. 

Not dissing the ClearAudio gear, never really heard it, am aware of it, remember the original Souther arm that the company has upgraded as the basis for their linear tracker. 

Before I owned the XL/Airline, I had the Kuzma Reference with a Triplanar. Terrific combo at the time. The XL, because of its high mass, sounds bottomless. But it is a pain to isolate if you don't have a concrete floor given its weight. 

@rsf507 thanks for the information. I guess I can relate to the sentiment which might be why I'm even considering trading tables. A nice table, but do I really love it? The etheral question. 

@whart thanks for the info. Anything you like or don't like about the Kuzma? Any notorious impression you have gotten from multiple tables of Franc's you've experienced? I guess I'm looking to learn about the brand "sound" if you will. I'm also considering a Minus K and I've read about your struggle with the XL and motor, though probably not an issue with the Stabi R. 

No complaints whatsoever. Very solid engineering, great support, they are never trying to "sell" you-- just trying to keep you running. The XL is profoundly different from the Reference- much deeper bass, there is a spooky quiet to the sound but some of it may be due to the linear arm. The Reference was far easier to set up and isolate though. I'm not sure about a "house sound"-I found that even among top tier cartridges, the biggest improvement on the front end was a change to the Koetsu- gave me the bass I was missing on the Avantgarde Duo arrangement combined with additional 15 inch subwoofers. The Minus K was the only way I could isolate the XL. Is Kuzma "better"? I don't know, just can tell you my experience was uniformly positive over the course more than a decade. I did outsource air compressors though and went to the Sil-Aire people in Houston directly. That's a whole other rabbit hole. I have not heard the "R" but again, very hard to separate what the table/arm is doing in an unfamiliar system without a reference.  The 9 inch arm is built like a rock. And is pretty easy to set up. I did use a Mint protractor (not sure they are still in business but I used it to double check settings against the factory supplied protractor).