Primary Control Kinea. End game. I will be bringing one in later this year to demo.... STST meanwhile a stone cold bargain. But these are new not used per se.
A Thought Exercise: Consolidating Analog To One Table and Two Cartridges
So this is a thought exercise only at this time. The idea has been bouncing around in the back of my head for a couple of weeks, and have discussed it with a friend but really can't come to a defninitve choice.
By nature, my stereo system is a product of consolidation. I buy and try, sometimes get a few pieces here, eventually sell and buy the next level up until I am satisfied. In regards to my current system this has led me to a pair of Classe Omega amplifiers and a Trinnov Audio Amethyst pre-amplifier. These are long term keepers for me.
Speakers may get an upgrade in the future or not. Pair of JBL 4365 with a pair of Velodyne HGS12 subwoofers just augmenting the bottom end a little. Room is a typical living room of 16'x20'x8' that the onboard DSP of the Trinnov and some room treatments helps smooth out.
The first plan is to keep two cartridges, Ortofon Verismo and Transfiguration Audio Proteus. That way I have one to listen to when the other is out for service. Keep a Schroder CB 1L tone arm. Keep a BMC MCI Signature ULN phono stage. Theoretically everything else goes to make a pile of money.
What goes? Ideally both tables. the SOTA cannot be used with this arm. But as an alternate plan I could keep the SOTA Cosmos Eclipse and put a higher quality arm on it and have it be the only table.
Scenerio #1 What Goes
SOTA Cosmos Eclipse
Scheu Audio Las Laufwerk No 2
SME V (older generation)
Dynavector DV 505
Esoteric E-03 phono stage
Ortofon MC 2000 all OEM
Ortofon MC2000 with boron cantilever
Ortofon MC5000
Ortofon MC3000 II
Ortofon T2000
Ortofon T5000
In theory i could raise between $16 and $18K. Much depends on selling prices of the tables.
What could I buy? This catches the eye, although how I would get it here would be a logistics problem.
TW Acustic Raven Black Night (REDUCED) For Sale | Audiogon
I do believe I can get the Schroder arm on it.
Option #2
Would be keeping the SOTA Cosmos Eclipse and obtaining a better tonearm for it. Keeping the Verismo and the Proteus as planned. If the other equipment was sold then it could go to a speaker fund. Perhaps sell the JBL and make a speaker upgrade.
The real question becomes this I guess. The next tier of turntable, does it really have meaningful improvements to offer? I think I can climb one last tier of the ladder and then I max out. But is it worth it to go through the effort? When I listen to the gear I have, the Verismo and the BMC phono stage really do lead the pack. I loved the MC2000 before this combo came around and I optimized it. I find different "sound" interesting to hear, but for me I am content to listen to my best and have limited interest in my lower tier gear. So I could just envision myself listening to these two cartridges. I don't rotate gear, or speakers, and don't have multiple systems.
Any thoughts? Like I said at the moment this is a thought exercise, not sure if I would want to go down this path or not. I do enjoy the MC2000s and they are difficult to obtain, so that gives me pause. But if an improvement is within reach, that is always my goal.
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@solypsa my post referencing the impact a DD TT had on a Group of which some were dedicated to Belt Drive is not a recommendation for a DD TT. It is just a pointer to the OP, that is a Belt Drive user, that when it comes to experiencing TT's a open mind is going to help with the end decision that is yet to be found. I did similar many years ago within the same Group, with showing the virtues of affordable Idler Drive TT's, especially with improved Bearing and Plinth Design. A selection of the Group acquired GL75's, followed up by having the usual fun created through tweaking them, where the Mechanical Parts and the Plinth Design were attended to, with the outcome being a lot of TT Performance, for a very sensible monies outlaid. The Idlers at the time did not supersede the Belt Drive TT's but did offer a good alternative experience. It was the later DD TT demo' that caused the Belt Drives to be moved on from as the main TT's. The OP will have their best opportunity to learn about the new direction wanted to be taken, if encouraged to receive/experience demo's of all Drive Types for a TT. The Kinea DD TT you are referring to is probably going to retail at approx' $15000 as a TT without a Tonearm. |
Unless you’re on concrete slab, don’t consider selling the SOTA. I tried to make a Clearaudio work on a suspended wood floor, and it was just too tough. I suppose there’s a Townshend Podium I could try as a potential "proper" solution, but the SOTA 4-point suspension simply breezes through all issues posed by this room. Moving on from a SOTA to anything else is risky, unless you’re on slab. I agree it’s annoying that SOTA supports just 1 arm up to ~ 9.5 - 10" effective length and ~ 2.3 lbs weight. However, I’m not even a fan of 12" arms (I doubt the benefit outweighs the problems) and if you get a high quality arm with removable headshells (Ikeda, FR) or arm wands (Graham) then you can support 2 cartridges with just a little swapping effort - most cartridges are the same height and Graham has easy VTA setting. Verismo and Transfiguration sounds like a pretty wicked 1-2 combo! And you have quite a collection of nice vintage Ortofons. My guess, from experience with an MC20, is they have a very different sound quality from modern Ortofons: low output, very little coils, large soft cobalt magnets versus stiff small neodymium magnets and larger coils to offset their new less-ferrous armatures. The sonic perspective is very different. Not too much like anything available today. Be careful to not sell something you’ll miss later! |
Previous to these tables I owned a SP 10 MK II in a constrained layer plinth, Denon PP75 in VPI plinth, and a Brinkman Bardo. Of the three I preferred the Denon. Prior to that I also owned a TD124 and a 401. Now every table stands on it's own merits, but as a general rule I find I appreciate these belt drives over the others. |
Essentially this makes the argument of standing pat with the tables and putting a better arm on the SOTA. That certainly is a viable option. I recently acquired the Schroder CB-1L in January of this year, and I will say the quality of the bearings is so much higher than what is in the SME, I have a hard time believing it. I would have never thought there could be this large of a gap. Perhaps a new arm for the Cosmos would be a good idea, and see what the potential of the table is. Leave the Scheu alone. According to @Pindac post other listeners are not unanimous on the thought that other tables are significantly better, but just perhaps different. At least that is the impression I get from reading the post. |
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