I have not ever had to set up a sota from the ground up, but I have heard them next to other turntables I am familiar with, I have adjusted arms on some, and they are truly good tables. They have very good build quality and they sound good, real good. But their reputation speaks louder than me. That particular turntable was considered to be a cut above the vpi hw19 jr. and mk III. It sure wouldn't hurt you to try it.
Being as it is not yours I can understand you want to be careful. There is a procedure for moving/transporting it, and perhaps your freind knows and could tell you. I have seen them moved from the shop many times without any preparation.
Depending on where you live and the resources available to you, and whether or not you set up your own cartridges, In my opioion it would be worth it to try your cartridge on it. If you don't want to set up the cartridge and arm yourself you could take it to a place locally. Sota will mail you an armboard, if you don't already have one. That may be a lot cheaper and easier than sending the whole thing to sota. You could clean it yourself, and partake in it's beauty.
Where I am going with this is that the sooner you try it, the sooner you will like it. You don't nessasarily have to go all the way with it at first, it would be much more cabable of getting more out of better cartridges and benifit from better tuning, but you could get a substantial taste. And you get to try a much better turntable. Your freind gets it cleaned. Appreciation and generousity is spread. Sounds like a great use of time to me. Beats raking leaves.
Being as it is not yours I can understand you want to be careful. There is a procedure for moving/transporting it, and perhaps your freind knows and could tell you. I have seen them moved from the shop many times without any preparation.
Depending on where you live and the resources available to you, and whether or not you set up your own cartridges, In my opioion it would be worth it to try your cartridge on it. If you don't want to set up the cartridge and arm yourself you could take it to a place locally. Sota will mail you an armboard, if you don't already have one. That may be a lot cheaper and easier than sending the whole thing to sota. You could clean it yourself, and partake in it's beauty.
Where I am going with this is that the sooner you try it, the sooner you will like it. You don't nessasarily have to go all the way with it at first, it would be much more cabable of getting more out of better cartridges and benifit from better tuning, but you could get a substantial taste. And you get to try a much better turntable. Your freind gets it cleaned. Appreciation and generousity is spread. Sounds like a great use of time to me. Beats raking leaves.