Upgrade Sota Comet or buy a used table?


I presently have a Sota Comet first generation table with a discontinued LMT2? tonearm. The bearing is gone in the tonearm and my best option so far is to upgrade the table. If I do upgrade it will be to a complete SOTA factory refurbished Comet with a S 301 tonearm. I am leaning strongly to trading in my Comet and paying $695 plus shipping of about $100.
Does this make more sense than buying a more expensive table such as a VPI Aries used for $1,000 to $1,200, and selling my Comet for $200? I am of the opinion I could still sell my "like new Comet" later for close to what I paid for the upgrade.
I presently have a Sumiko Blackbird cartridge which I plan to keep.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2x2bgeorge

Showing 2 responses by manitunc

Those of you who are comparing a Sota Sapphire from the 80s to the present version are missing 25 years of improvements. there is no comparison. the current version is much better than the 80s version, however, the late 80s early 90s series III is no slouch. Much better than the black top early versions.
I would go with the upgrade. The table will easily be worth what you paid for it if you want to sell later. Or how about upgrading to a Sapphire now. I have and do own a number of Sotas and they are well worth the money at each level. My Cosmos IV is the best table I have ever owned or heard.