Turntable help for a Newbie

Mang53,
Here's another idea. You put $5K aside for my bail money and I'll 'borrow' Rushton's rig. You can come listen any time!

<;~)

Both of the above recommendations are very good and I believe the posters have broader experience than I do with turntable systems. I'd still recommend a refurbished SOTA Cosmos, $3450 with several new parts directly from SOTA (http://www.sotaturntables.com/Refurbished_Tables.htm). That leaves plenty of budget for a good tonearm and decent cartridge. SOTA can do it all as a package within your budget.

I've been extremely pleased with my SOTA Star (with vacuum). I bought it new in 1990 with a Sumiko Premeir FT-4 tonearm. It has never needed any maintenance and holds settings like a rock. Also, the SOTA hung suspension works wonders on the suspended wood floor we have. I can jump up and down in front of the system rack (Sanus) and it has zero impact on a playing LP.

I recently upgraded the tonearm to an Origin Live Encounter, largely based on posts in A'gon from members, especially dougdeacon and twl. Thanks Doug and Tom! Although I don't know you, you've enriched my enjoyment of music with your sharing of knowledge about the importance of tonearms in general, and specifics about the OL Silver tonearm . My decision came down to that one and the Encounter, which is as you know, very similar.

I selected the Encounter because I do not like to screw around with tonearms and it had a few more of the set and forget features I wanted -- e.g., VTA, no mods required.

The OL Encounter raised the performance of my SOTA Star to remarkable levels -- a full 3-dimensional soundstage, much better timbral accuracy, and added tremendous weight and authority to the music that was not there with the previous tonearm.

So here is a third option, the refurbished SOTA Cosmos and Origin Live Encounter or Silver tonearms with an appropriate cartridge that meets budget considerations. I've heard the Shelter 501 is a good match and you'll want to check on a package discount from SOTA.

Finally, the Teres clearly has the lead in eye-candy followed by the VPI. But the SOTA classic quality all-wood cabinet is preferred by some.

Happy hunting!
Terry

Almost forgot, since you are getting back into vinyl. I recommend that you get a record cleaning machine. As I went from the Technics and Dual world to higher-end LP systems 18 years ago I bought a NittyGritty RCM based on advice of my dealer. Whoa! It makes an amazing difference. Its not really much extra hassle because you don't need to clean an LP for every play if you put the LP back into one of those decent aftermarket ricepaper (whatever) innersleeves immediately after cleaning/play rather than the original paper sleeve.

Hi Txp1,
Thanks for the kind words.

I've never heard a Sota. I've never heard anything but good about them either. I'll confess we fell for the eye candy appeal of the Teres 265, but we're quite satisfied musically too.

We recently upgraded from our Twl-modded OL Silver to a TriPlanar. That was a huge step, price-wise and performance-wise. The OL's are excellent arms and stupendous value for the money. Twl was and is our fearless leader of course. His HIFI Mod thread was the most brilliant and influential analog discussion I've ever seen. The little $900 Silver, when so modded, actually outperforms four of the most expensive pivoting arms in the world for leading edge transient response. IOW, these arms rock, and Twl reported the Encounter did about the same when he A/B'd one against his modded Silver, and the Encounter was clearer/cleaner. Nice move you made.

Dougdeacon,

Its always nice to hear that others concur with an audio purchase decision!

The Encounter has reignited my love of vinyl. Just today I purchased a demo Plinius Jarrah phono stage (here on A'gon) because I've been listening with the built-in phono section in my Plinius 9200. The built-in on the 9200 is quite good for a built-in section on an integrated amp but not really optimized for MC cartridges (amongst other things such as budgetary tradeoffs).

After your Triplanar burns-in, an interesting post would be your comparison of it to the modified OL Silver. I'm interested in what areas a top, expensive arm betters a top, intermediate priced arm. I've never heard one that high-end except for a very short time at a dealer.

Its great that you enjoy your Teres so much. It seems that everyone on A'gon or AA who owns them, loves 'em.
I hope to hear one someday but there's very few audiophiles where I live.
Terry