SOTA STAR Sapphire Turntable Care and Feeding

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. 

I also have my first good table which is a Star Sapphire. Good table, but cant compete with my Merrill-Williams REAL. I should send the table back to SOTA for an overhaul and then sell it. Or I could put a better arm on the table and keep it. I really like the SOTA staff.