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Upgrade Sota Saphire vs. Buy New Turntable

I have owned a Sota Saphire III since 1988. It is in perfect condition and plays great. I need to replace the stylus of the Grado MCZ cartridge and thought maybe it is time to upgrade the Audioquest PT-5 tonearm also. I priced out a Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge and a new PT9+ arm at an expense of about $1400.00, plus installation costs. I see that a new Rega P25/RB600 is $1275 and a VPI Scout/JMW-9 is $1500.00. Is my Sota "outdated" compared to the other table combos described? Will the the other tables sound better than my 50lb suspended Sota? I don't want to invest $1400.00 in a 15 year old table if I can better the sound quality by purchasing a new design for roughly the same price. Any guidence or suggestions would be appreciated. Pete.
prlscs
wellfed's avatar
wellfed
690 posts
 
Since you already have an excellent table and arm why not put your upgrade budget into a new cartridge alone? Or better yet, a new cartridge and some room treatment products. I recommend considering Marigo room treatment dots. They will improve dynamics and provide more focused images.
jg_deitrich
5 posts
 
I agree with Wellfed. Your table is already very good and I'm not sure you'll feel that you have made substantial improvements by buying either the P25 or Scout. I have a P25 with the RB600/incognito wiring and Grado Sonata with which I A/B'd vs. a friend's late 80's SOTA Saphire. There were differences between the two but in the end I felt that both were wonderful and musically engaging. In many ways I preferred the additional warmth and weight of the bass presented by the SOTA.
franklapdog's avatar
franklapdog
103 posts
 
Give Donna at Sota a call.You can have that sapphire upgraded to a Star or perhaps a Nova for a very reasonable cost.Check out their site at www.sotaturntables.com and good luck.
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
I did what Frank suggested last year. It was a great improvement! Donna is fabulous to deal with, and they give good trade-in on upgrades or refurbishing. Tell Donna I said Hi.
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