I got on the phone with SOTA to talk about refurbished turntables. Had a few nice conversations with Christan and we talked about my stereo upgrade plan, the room and my listening habits and tastes. Turns out they have one rosewood Sapphire III ready to get refurbished. We talked about my budget and Christan gave me some options, so I pulled the trigger. It's going to get Series IV electronics, Rega 330 tonearm and a Hana cartridge, which will keep it in my budget. It should be ready in January. I enjoyed working with Christan and am excited to get a SOTA turntable after 30+ years of pining for one.
SOTA STAR Sapphire Turntable Care and Feeding
I'm seriously interested in a used SOTA STAR Sapphire Series III Turntable with Vacuum, Electronic Flywheel and SME Series IV Tonearm, that is close to me and a very reasonable price. It would be a big step up from my current Pro-Ject X2B, but I want to make sure it is not too technical for my dinosaur brain before I pull the trigger. How difficult it is to get set up? Once it is set up, do you need to constantly fuss over it or just the occasional check? I have an upgraded Joliida JD-9 phono pre-amp. Would this pre-amp be sufficient for the SOTA or would I need to upgrade that to do justice to the SOTA? Any other quirks of this turntable that I should be aware of? Thanks in advance for your advice.
John Cotner
New Ulm, MN
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- 50 posts total
- 50 posts total