SOTA cosmos turntables

That sounds like a pretty huge jump in price from a $6K Cosmos. Go with the Sota.

All audio components depend on what kind of music you like. I found Sota to impart a soft soothing quality to the music. Not good if you like hard rock.

The Sotas sound terrific, but if you ever need to send it in for repairs (or order a new one even), you'd better have the patience of a Saint.

Looking for advice from fellow SOTA owners. I have an older Sapphire with Premier FT-3 arm and Benz MC20E cartridge. In 2005, based on their recommendations I had SOTA install a composite arm board, modify the sub-chassis, replace the bearings, reglue the mat/added EAR and add a large drive belt. Table sounds pretty good but now I want to bring my analog set up to another level.

What do you recommend I do to get the wow factor that I'm looking for? Can I get it on a limited budget of $1,000. Is a cartridge upgrade (for example, Benz Glider) the way to go or do I need to bite the bullit and buy a SOTA with vacuum, like a Star? I personally don't think my table justifies a better arm. But if I'm wrong, please tell me.

You have a great tt/arm combo. upgrade your cartridge and later you can raid your 401k and buy a cosmos with a triplanar or sme V or graham and a ridiculously expensive cartridge and then upgrade the rest of your system and build a purpose designed listening room. Thats what I did.
Merry xmas