Does any Audiogon member have a Holbo air-bearing turntable?

Science and engineering are fine. They need to just stay in their lanes and feel secure in the reality that the way they view the world is limited by not only the science but also by the personalities of those that typically get into science.

Everything else you got wrong. But just interpret as you see fit. 

To get hurt over me saying a linear tracking arm should be more expensive and that the arm looked inadequate is so petty and immature. Oh yes I forgot this is your arm and hence a critical statement about the arm is an insult directed at you.

Someone ought to write a Hi-Fi For Dummies book.

"I trust my ears! Everything matters! The more you pay, the better it sounds! Science schmience, I do my own research!"

There, I did it. You're welcome.

@pal_gunnestad 

I was wondering where you are from!  My partner and I spent a month in Norway in your winter, having left Sydney on a 47 degree Celsius day with no stop-overs, except for a week in Iceland.  It was really hard to juggle suitable clothing!

We went from Oslo to Bergen by train and electric ferry, then to the Lofoten Islands and ended up in Tromso with a few days at the Arctic Panorama Lodge in between. Fortunately, it is hard to mentally convert NOK and AUD so we did not find out how expensive things are until we got home, and Sydney is not exactly cheap.

I often refer on this Forum to Norwegian recording company 2L.no as the best there is.  The affinity between Norway and Australia comes across in 2L.no's recording of Percy Grainger playing Grieg on piano rolls in 1921, coupled with a modern orchestra in full surround sound.

The majority of my recent purchases seem to feature the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and anything by Klaus Makela is a must.  His Oslo Philharmonic Sibelius recordings are knock-outs.  Norway punches well above its weight 

My only complaints are that the motor is a bit noisy and the tendency to get stuck in a groove for a couple of rounds

I've never had that issue!  One of the reviews did and the reviewer discovered they needed to level the turntable a bit more accurately.  I did have a mistracking issue when I first installed my DS003 cartridge, but I had accidentally set my digital tracking force gauge to read in grains, not grams.  Nothing will track well at 0.1 grams 

I have a suspicion that Holbo changed to a new Japanese motor on the Mk2.  Certainly, I cannot hear any motor noise.  Correction:  I have just used a stethoscope and there is a very faint noise when the probe is very close to the motor.  Nothing at all on the far side of the plinth.

The same goes for the combined power supply / air compressor unit.  It is absolutely silent to my ears, unless I get bone contact through my skull.

The resonant frequency of my tonearm / cartridge is about 6-Hz according to my Tacit test record.

For me, the SoulNote Equalizer was not an upgrade because I never had a DS Audio one to upgrade from!  The SoulNote was recommended by Absolute High End who are the Australian distributor for DS Audio.  I bought it solely on their recommendation - it was so new there was not even a review.  Either way, they would have got my money!

I was saving for a Holbo when Bostjan suddenly offered a direct sales model at about half the price I was expecting to pay.  You might be pleasantly surprised what a Mk2 would cost you 

@audition__audio 

To get hurt over me saying a linear tracking arm should be more expensive and that the arm looked inadequate is so petty and immature. Oh yes I forgot this is your arm and hence a critical statement about the arm is an insult directed at you

I am glad you picked up the irony in my response.  Far from being hurt, I am astounded at your arrogance.  There, like @devinplombier, I also said it.

The Holbo tonearm seems very like the CSPort except that it can handle lighter cartridges - I am guessing because its horizontal mass is quite low.  It handled my high compliance Shure V15 without problems.  Don’t let its looks deceive you - this is one very rigid arm.

@pal_gunnestad 

You mentioned worn records, and I note that your DS Audio cartridge has an elliptical stylus.

Before I bought the Holbo, I replaced my old stylus with micro-line, which seems to bridge over the places worn by older shapes.  Even my old records sound like new.

That’s why I went up the range a little bit, with the DS003 in order to get a line contact stylus.