Does Anyone Know the History of the Early Sota Turntables?

@neonknight  @lewm  That would make two of us. More than anything vacuum clamping results in amazing pitch stability and lower low frequency background noise as long as the record is reasonably concentric. There is no other downside. I will never buy a turntable without vacuum clamping. Sota's current system is extremely quiet. In my set up it is totally inaudible. The only kinks in operation are you have to turn the table off to remove the record and the vacuum generates an amazing amount of static charge on the bottom of the record. I deal with this problem by using my own formula of record cleaning solution that will not allow the record to collect a charge. This fluid is currently being evaluated by Sota. The only solution to stopping the table for every side is to get use to it. 

My memory is not the greatest, but I do think the initial vacuum tables were regular Sapphires before the Star was released. I never used any of the early vacuum tables. My first vacuum table is my current Cosmos which is only about three years old. The only time the Cosmos has trouble clamping a record is if the record is dished. It will clamp the concave side, but not the convex side even with help. With the use of Sota's reflex clamp I have yet to have a record not seal with the exception of dished records. 

@neonknight The PD300 was produce from 1982 to 1984. I do believe that SOTA beat it out but it was close.

It is entirely possible for a suspended turntable to take multiple arms, the Dohmann Helix 1 is an example. Sota could easily make one on the basic Cosmos design. They are turning the Millennium into a multiple arm turntable, but by removing the suspension, mounting feet on the chassis and a heavy base under the feet. No dust cover. Not my cup of tea. You could take the chassis and place it on a MinusK platform. Then you would have to concocted a dust cover.  

OK, David Fletcher was behind both Sumiko and SOTA. The first table Marketed by SOTA was the Sapphire. I had an original one with a Syrinx PU3 Tonearm for almost 40 years and it is still in use in a young audiophiles system. All I ever did was replace belts and lube the bearing. I never had any problem with stretched springs and can only assume these turntables were misused perhaps by using tonearms that were too heavy. The PU3 was a perfect arm for that table. The motor was an AC synchronous with a synthesized drive. You could adjust pitch. The bearing was inverted with a hardened steel ball on a sapphire thrust plate. The platter was aluminum and rang like a bell. I used a felt covered glass mat which was very effective in controlling the ringing. 

This was a landmark turntable. It was the first stable suspended turntable effectively isolating the cartridge from everything over 3 Hz. SOTA would become the first to provide vacuum clamping in a consumer turntable. Through the years the table has maintained it's essential character, but with steady evolution in bearings, platters, mats and drives culminating in the current Cosmos which has a 1" thick sub chassis like an SME. 

Over the years the company has passed through two different owners, the current being Christan Griego. Christan is starting to move the company away from it's core product in a direction some of us might not like. The New Millennium will not be suspended and will allow the use of three arms of any weight. Sota is also working on a direct drive turntable which is also not suspended.  David Fletchers main contribution to turntable design was the hanging suspension tuned to 2-3 Hz. This was a far more stable design that was eventually copied by Avid, SME and Basis. The problem is heavy and /or multiple arms upset the suspension. It would have to be retuned and possibly re springed to accommodate arms of various masses and numbers. Therein lies the real challenge, developing a suspended turntable that will allow the use of heavy and multiple arms without having to resort to major restructuring, something the owner could manage at home. 

Make sure you get a new belt and clean the rim of the platter with brake cleaning fluid until you cloth or paper towel does not turn black. A worn belt will cause a marked increase in wow and flutter. Be very careful with the arms you try. Stick with 9" arms of intermediate to lower mass. The SME IV and V are good examples. Origin Live and Rega arms work well and IMHO the Schroder CB is the best arm for that table unless you can find a Syrinx PU 3 in good condition. I thought so much of my Sapphire that I now own a Cosmos Vacuum table handily the best value in a high end turntable even with the new price increases.