Why will no other turntable beat the EMT 927?

All one can say when Mijostyn pontificates on one of his gospel truths is “l disagree” and then say why. My highly tweaked Lenco does not produce audible rumble of any kind. But I can’t say why. Mijo has to open up his mind and listen to a well restored idler.

When does a turntable, tonearm, or cartridge cross the time line between "modern" and "vintage"? Mijostyn’s beloved Cosmos turntable is basically the same as a Star Sapphire sold by SOTA in the late 1980s, and by his own admission, SOTA copied the AR XA (mid-1960s) in its essence. I would not deny that the Cosmos is improved over its ancestral TTs, but so too are "vintage" idler and direct-drive turntables that most of us are using in the here and now, in the sense that most of us using "vintage" designs have added new and better plinths, bearing assemblies, motor control systems, etc. The Eclipse system on the Cosmos or optional on any other "modern" SOTA turntable is identical in concept and operation to the Phoenix Engineering speed controller I use on my Lenco (which apparently rumbles despite a massive upgraded bearing and a heavily damped platter but I can’t hear it because my woofers are not 15 inches in diameter times two per channel, and I don’t boost the bass response by 10 or more db, as does Mijostyn). Methinks Mijo read "The Emporer's New Clothes" once too many times as a kid.

Pani, Can you try to put into words what you heard from the 927 that was so superior to any of the other TTs with which you compared it?  You seem at one go to be saying that the 927 "beat" the Technics and a Lenco but that those are turntables you don't particularly like.  (I am not sure what you prefer these days.) Nor would anyone say that those are TTs of the very highest most esoteric rank, with which one would want to compare the 927 in order to confer the title of "world's best".

That must have been fun. You mention that the internal phono stage of the EMT927 was used.  Was it also used with the other 3-4 TTs in the shoot-out?  It is unusual that you and your friends were nearly as enthusiastic about the 950 as you were about the 927.  Most EMT aficionados who love the 927 don't love the 950 or any other DD TT so much.  But this means absolutely nothing.  The 950 is "in reach" of most well heeled audiophiles, whereas a really well restored 927 is almost in oligarch territory now. Two I found on line are well over $20,000.  That matters when one is doing comparisons.  I am not a big fan of the speakers you mention, but they certainly are not terrible.

At this point in time, the 927 is like Captain Ahab’s white whale. The one you might find may not bear all the sonic virtues of the one you are seeking, and it might bankrupt you nevertheless (not quite as bad as what happened to Ahab, I admit).