Well essentially that points to standing where I am as both tables in my possession are quite respectable. In a way that is how I got to this point. When buying the SOTA Cosmos I bought an earlier generation Star Sapphire to determine if I liked the philosophy of a SOTA table. I did, and the purchased Cosmos was significantly better in all aspects, but the overarching philosophy of a SOTA design remains.
This is truly the agony of being an analog enthusiast. In addition to a SOTA Nova V vacuum (just before the VI and Eclipse advancements), my main table is a Clearaudio Master Innovation. Very different table philosophies! I love the ability to easily (once arm boards are acquired) setup & swap out multiple arms, though I do find 3 unwieldy - 2 is the right # for me. No suspension to fidget with and re-balance. I’ve swapped many cartridges out on both tables but I keep a FR64fx (I have 2) on the SOTA because it’s just far easier that way. I’ve played with a few arms and phono stages, at least.
True to its name, the Clearaudio table (and this holds for its smaller sibling Innovation Wood and Compact) sounds clearer and cleaner - with more clarity, transparency, and a notably lower noise floor. The SOTA has more warmth and body in the midrange through bass (really great bass impact) with amazing PRaT. More of a "fun" and romantic sound versus the Clearaudio’s pristine sound. Honestly I’d swap these tables out in the main rig more often, if it wasn’t such a pain to tear down and move the huge Master.
The magnitude of these tables’ sonic differences? I’d say it’s maaaybe close to that of swapping arms / carts / phono stages, but a tad more subtle. I use a ring clamp on the Clearaudios because I’m a big believer in whole-record clamping. The Stillpoints LPI is my favorite center weight. The SOTA vacuum or ring clamp - both work well. I suppose the vacuum is easier, but might contribute to the higher noise floor (or is that the difference in bearing which might not apply to newer SOTA)?
What I run into periodically, is that the Clearaudio decks either need serious isolation, or you need to be on concrete slab. You can run them in a bad spot and they may sound fine at first, but problems will emerge especially if you listen loud (like I do). Stillpoints etc won’t do it - you need low frequency isolation / filtering. If that 8 - 12 Hz cartridge + tonearm resonance gets excited and is not damped enough, it's game over (amps don't like reproducing this at high levels). Coming from the SOTA (my first table) - this was kind of a shock (and still is). The SOTA will excel ANYWHERE. Stuff like the Symposium ISO Segue has springs too, but isn’t in the same ballpark of effectiveness as SOTA’s springs. Their 4-point suspension is amazingly effective. I get away with the Clearaudio in my main rig because of a 20K Maxxum rack, and the fact that my suspended wood floor there is much more rigid than that of modern residences (old world industrial construction). On a normal suspended wood floor, and/or with a cheap rack - lots of problems.