Help me pick a new turntable

Nice points @mijostyn . The Stabi M is now around 24k without arm so I'd still be suggesting a Stabi R with 4Point9 and either the minusk or a Vibraplane at around 3k. As I've stated earlier I've listened to a Stabi R and it was a memorable experience. It has become my dream table.

+1 👍

The cartridge is a dumb vibration measuring device. It can not distinguish vibration from the record versus vibration from anything else like the truck driving down your street. The plater, tonearm and cartridge need to be totally isolated from the rest of the world. Gel feet do not cut it. A turntable requires a full suspension with a resonance frequency below 3 Hz. Now you can take a turntable like the AS and place it on a suspended platform like the MinusK but, that is an additional $5K. There are turntables in this price range with a full built in suspension from Avid, SME, Basis, Kuzma and Sota. Good suspensions are also immune to things like foot falls.

I’ve experienced a number of situations in people’s listening rooms & Audio Shows where a treasured phono system delivered less than optimal results due to a lack of proper isolation.

The AS NEO turntables come with a 15 year warranty...none better in the industry! I had a custom dust cover made for my Hurricane which complements it quite well.

Funny how some people can "opine" about a product without ever hearing it, much less knowing so little about it! The AS tables come with a leather mat. Same people also like to shill for certain products. ; )

@rsf507 , You are right! The Stabi R With a MinusK would be excellent. You might also look at the Ref 2. It has a fine built in suspension.

Hot News Flash!! Kuzma is going after SAT! Frank is releasing the Safir 9 a $25K sapphire tubed tonearm with 4 point style bearings. It is an all out attack on the state of the art and it hits all the important attributes a good arm should have. It is just a bit pricey but, look at the thing, it has a sapphire arm tube!