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VIP, SOTA & Oracle Turntables

Can these turntables from the late 1980's and 1990's be upgraded to more recent standards? I am planning to purchase one of these turntables for use in my audio system. Since I can't afford to purchase new, my plan is to purchase a used turntable and arm for upgrade later when I have extra cash.

My present system consistes of the:

1. Threshold S/300
2. Classe DR-5 pre-amp
3. DAC
4. Parasound 2000 CD transport
5. Upgraded cables and interconnects
6. Mirage M-09 speakers to be upgraded to Maggies 1.6. I presently listen to CD's but really want to begin pulling our some of my classical and jazz albums. All advice will be welcomed. Thanks very much.
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Showing 2 responses by stanwal

stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I am a VPI dealer so I will confine my advice to them. While there is some ability to upgrade the older tables, which are good buys, I would suggest looking at the current Scout, which has a clear upgrade path to the Scoutmaster Reference, a table that costs mega dollars to better. The standard Scout is a very good table in itself and often appears on Audiogon at favorable prices. Stan Wallen, Alternative Audio
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I haven't used a SOTA in a long while but the VPI will give you what you want if pared with the right cartridge. The job of the table is to permit the cartridge to do the best possible job; cartridges vary widely in sound and are a very personal choice. An HW 19 or Scout or corresponding SOTA will satisfy you for a long time, I regularly switch between cheaper and more expensive tables, the more expensive are better but the cheaper ones are very good and easily beat out CD. The advantage of the Scout is that it comes with a very good arm. Eliminating the arm board reduces your choice of arm but significantly improves the sound according to what I hear back from 2 well known table manufactures.
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