Worth having my SOTA Sapphire refurbished?

Any updates on this thread. I recently purchased a Sapphire for...$175. I think really ancient. Serial number in the bottom of the TT not in the back and blue platter mat.=)

Luvmuzik66,

Hi!

Yes, I got my Sapphire refurbished by SOTA back in '08. Everything was fine. The only real hassle I had was that UPS broke the original dust cover in shipment to the factory, so I had to spring for a new one. (And yes, I filed a claim with UPS, but because I packed the gear myself they wouldn't cover it.)
The table has performed flawlessly since then! I have still periodically toyed with the idea of upgrading my arm but with money being rather tight I've stuck with my old Linn Basik.
By the way, they did install a new Ortofon 2M Blue at SOTA since the Audioquest cart on the arm was ancient.
So my experience was a good one, over all, other than the long time it took to get the table back. But the owners were great to deal with.

Nice to find this thread.I am currently in the same boat. 86/87 Sota star sapphire, one owner, Zeta tone arm, monster alpha 2 high freq MC cart. Not a big turntable user so have little to no knowlege as far as setting up, tone arm set up, etc..., but the price was right so here I am.

I hooked it up, reading everything thing I can on the unit for months and I'm stuck. Table has a slight wobble (it reads level,both platter and body). I have minimzed that through set up as best I can, but i can still see it. I am getting static out of the right channel. I inverted the RCA jacks, and the static goes to the left.It seems the static hits on the up wave of the wobble. The Vaccume also does not work. I'm also not sure how to set up the arm properly and wonder if that is the/part of the problem? They zeta "manual" tells you what to do, but I dont know antis skate from tracking force to counter wegith, etc...

I really just want a plug and play unit. I was thinking of selling the tone arm and cart, getting what I can for the table and buying rega, clear audio or pro ject with the cash I get from selling the arm, cart and TT, but everything I read says don't, the tables are great, etc...

I also have the original box. I was thinking about taking it to a local shop, but the guys are pretty unfamiliar with SOTA. They have heard of it of course, but meh, not sure I'd want them workin on it. My other option is sending it to SOTA, but time, packing and money does not seem worth it. Its not like I have great equipment to start (Moscode 300 amp, parasound p3 pre, parasound phono amp over some B&W 603s3). I also got a pair of acoustat model 1s with the TT as well. Driving me crazy to see guys with $100 turntables enjoying there tunes,while here I sit with what appears to be a pretty good set up, unable to enjoy the records that came wiht it,as well as all I have bought. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would normally not recommend it, but at your level of knowledge, it probably would indeed be better for you to buy a new tt with a built-on tonearm. But no matter what tt and tonearm you use, you are going to have to understand the different terms associated with analog, e.g., vertical tracking force (VTF), vertical tracking angle (VTA), azimuth, "skating force" and the use of anti-skate devices, etc. The concepts are really simple and logical, if you've had even high school level geometry. You can probably find a tutorial on Youtube to explain it all and remove the veil of ignorance.

Finally, another reason to suggest you move on to a "plug and play" set-up is that the SOTA in "as is" condition, even with no functional defects (and it sounds like your tt may have a seriously compromised bearing to begin with), is no great shakes (my opinion, but I did own a SOTA Star Sappire Series III for many years as my only tt). SOTA the company can revive your unit and upgrade it to ameliorate all the perceived issues, but the cost may equal or exceed that of a new budget level tt with tonearm. That said, if you were to give them carte blanche to do the max upgrades, you would indeed then have a fine modern tt. But do you want or need something that good? It's your call.

Get a TW table used big upgrade had SOTA got TW big upgrade,your move!!