holbo MK 2 turntable

if you can find one on the used market, an Eminent Technology ET 2.5 would be a lot less money. Turntable not included. 

Check out the Bergmann line.  Excellent turntables.  I love mine.  

Here's another table with a linear tracking arm. Unusual to say the least with the platter moving. 

Solution 787 tturntable

https://soulution-audio.com/soulution-787-turntable/

@reynolds537 

If Richard has a current cartridge recommendation I'd like to hear it.  

Holbo has much more experience, and somewhere on their website there is a list of reviews and the cartridges they have.  I can only tell you what I am actually doing! 

I have a DS003 optical cartridge on order from DS Audio and I am very much looking forward to hearing it!  It seems to me that DS Audio has the same sorts of engineering advances in cartridge design that Holbo brings to the (turn)table / arm combination.

When you have several unique selling propositions, coupled with truly enthusiastic reviews, you are probably on to something.

I am coupling my optical cartridge with a just released SoulNote E-1 Ver 2 Equalizer which can switch between optical and MM or MC cartridges.  It is so new, there are no professional reviews.  The improvements it has made with my old Shure V15 are quite remarkable.  SoulNote is another manufacturer with unique selling propositions, many of which fly in the face of conventional wisdom but make complete sense from an engineering perspective if you shift from frequency analysis to waveform analysis.  I find it hard to stop playing records with this combination, which seems like the cliche'd end of a professional magazine review, but it is true!

I find it interesting that the Holbo is compared with tables costing 20 or more times as much, yet it is often regarded as a reference system!

I’ll accept this challenge:  put up a serious competitor and I’ll do a desk top analysis of where different engineering approaches might affect the sound quality.

Put it another way, it seems that some in North America would spend more on a power cord!  Most here can afford a Holbo and you’ll be getting a world-class system to play with your favourite cartridge!