SOTA STAR Sapphire Turntable Care and Feeding

@tomic601 

The generators of cartridges, with few exceptions, are very simple devices and very old tech. The performance of cartridges assuming similar construction quality, is due primarily to the stylus shape and cantilever. The Hana Blue is a $2000 cartridge. The Goldring 1042 is a $600 cartridge with a high performance stylus and boron cantilever. The Nagaoka MP 500 is a $900 cartridge also with a high performance cantilever and stylus. These cartridges are better values because high output cartridges have a very different market which will not spend mega bucks on a cartridge. The profit margins are not as high. They also are much less demanding of phono stages resulting in better signal to noise ratios and a more dynamic presentation. 

As @lewm has discovered. The MP 500 is a first class cartridge in many respects. I think it is a shame when financial constraints are at play that cartridges like the MP 500 are not considered.  

First - Nothing against either of the MM carts you and Lew have recommended - hopefully Christian at SOTA sells them and sets up for the customer vs. the Hana which he recommended AFTER it sounds like a detailed conversation about tastes, upgrade path , etc… I’ve probably sold, setup and optimized 100 or so SOTA tables / Arms / Cartridge over the years…. in your quasi accurate assessment of cartridge design / execution / test and quality control you left out the VERY important alignment of the diamond on the cantilever into your “ commodity “ motor. Hana changed the pricing premium applied to the mystical MC by pricing it for volume. Oh and they sound excellent…i’ve owned them ( on SOTA, Denon, Basis, and Brinkmann TT …

Best to the OP

Hey there. I know this is older but I just picked up one of these sota star series iii vacuum turntable in Walnut. It really is a beautiful table. I spent a couple of hours really getting the suspension right and everything leveled. I haven't put a cartridge on it yet but that's the next thing to do to try it out. Seems like it holds its speed really well when I tested it too. I'm curious from you other owners how to know if the vacuum is working well like it's supposed to be? It has a large clamp for it that looks like it presses down really well. I think it looks like it should be good with the vacuum working or not working. It's got a sumiko mmt premiere tonearm on it. I've tried to find a value for it and I don't really see any of these for sale. I'm trying to figure out if I want to keep this for my second table or a vpi aries scout with some upgrades. The second system is for my 12 yr old daughter technically but just a reason to play with more gear. Any suggestions are welcome. 

I’m curious from you other owners how to know if the vacuum is working well like it’s supposed to be?

@cowboyandy 

My Star III’s vacuum platter was NOT working back when I acquired it in 2007, depsite being in otherwise excellent, well-maintained condition. Actually, the vacuum pump was working fine, but the platter’s rubber lip was no longer supple, and unable to grip & hold a seal. This is a common problem. I’d be very surprised if yours holds. Of course, it will play fine without the vacuum clamping, but at that point you’d be better off cutting the lip off, so the record can at least lay flat(ish). Later series starting using a better, wider & flatter sealing lip.

You can test your vacuum seal by picking a record you don’t care about, and then tapping hard with your fingernail at various points while the platter is running. If the seal is good, it should feel solid and acoustically dead (no gaps). 

I’m trying to figure out if I want to keep this for my second table or a vpi aries scout with some upgrades. 

IMO, as long as the suspension is still OK, your SOTA is decidedly the better table. Even with platter seal issues. However you may notice "more bass" and a darker overall sound with the Aries. In some systems, that can work better. (edit: oops I didn't see the "Scout" part, I thought you were comparing to a full fledges Aries - there is NO comparison between a SOTA Star and Scout)

You may contact SOTA for refurbishment and upgrade options, but I think it will get pricey very quick. An "as-is" SOTA Star III is an awesome "self-use" budget table. You won’t get a lot for it on the used market, but it’s going to be hard to find a better basic table without spending a lot more money. That Sumiko MMT arm was a common pairing on these tables (it was re-branded a few ways, also by Audioquest), and should be quite serviceable. Made by Jelco Japan. 

I had my Star III rebuilt into a Nova V (5) by SOTA, circa 2018. I wanted to preserve the beautiful Koa wood chassis. It was quite expensive, near $4K or so. The vacuum hold now works great, and I’m sure it will be good for another 20 years (at least). BUT does it sound better than in its original state? I really don’t think so! The newer series (now VII = 7) are a lot more expensive than the V was, but also use a lot of new tech. 

I appreciate that insight. The vacuum should work without the belt on correct? I didn't even think of that the other night. I have the aries scout in my daughters room. It's just my play system for something to do. It's got an upgraded bearing and hrx feet on it and is simple to use but the star seems pretty simple too now that it's all setup. The suspension seems to be very good still too. Do these bring a grand used or something like that? For my main table I do have an original aries too. It's got the black night version platter, hrx feet, new bearing and the nordost tonearm wire. Even if the sota sounded a little bit better, I still love the looks of the big vpi in my system with egglestonworks Andra ii's, Rowland 8ti amp and soon a Rowland coherence ii preamp.