Reference System TT - Dr. Feickert Analogue or Sota

@mijostyn- well said and I share your experience.  I bought a Sapphire 3 in 1992 and used it up until last year.  I now have a Star V vacuum with the Series VI motor but Donna is building me a Nova VI vacuum which should be ready by December.  I am trading in my Star.  It started as a discussion for a new belt and springs which lead to how about the magnetic bearing and what about the Eclipse/Condor package and suddenly I'm getting a new turntable!  Their trade up program is not bad at all.  My first exposure to Sota was in 1988.  I was impressed with their design and engineering.  I finally got one myself.  I kind of wished I had upgraded to vacuum many years back but I was happy with the Sapphire.  Until the record is perfectly coupled to the platter, there is not much to talk about.  Adding rings and weights to a record seems like a good idea?

I have the Star V vacuum right now with a Series VI motor.  I plan to carry over my SME309 Tonearm to the Nova.  I am using the Soundsmith Zephyr ES cartridge.  It sounds great and tracks like it is on rails.  I have one or two records that have enough warp to not quite seal on the lip of the platter; but I just gently press the outer edge with my fingertips and the vacuum grabs them just fine.  So true story:  Summer of 1977 I was in college and working in Indianapolis.  I would stay over at my cousins apartment sometimes there.  One night we went to a record store and I picked up the new Eric Clapton Slowhand album.  Then we went to another of our cousins' place and the two of them proceeded to get drunk.  So my cousin gave me the keys and let me drive him home.  On the way home I asked my cousin, "You aren't sitting on my record are you?"  "No man," he said.  He did.  It was warped.  I left that record under one of my speakers all of that winter in college, but it remained warped.  So when I got the Star vacuum, of course that is one of the first records I had to try on it.  It pulled that record down flat.  Finally, after all these years I could play this record without having to watch my tonearm bob up and down.