vintage turntables?

Joe, could the Kuzma "Classic" you heard have been the one with the oak plinth and cover? If so, it was the Stabi table. Two arms were available, the Stogi and Stogi Reference. I was not aware that Cardas used a Kuzma but the Stabi/Stogi was reviewed in Stereophile and given a B recommendation about that time, and was used at Acoustic Sounds for several years. As far as I know it remains in production but may not be part of the current line up in the US.

I've owned a Stabi/Stogi Reference for over ten years and still believe it is one of the best at it's price point (well above George's price quote).

Relevant to our subject, even though these Kuzma designs are more than 10 years old, I would not call them "vintage".

man...thats great...i have an old marshall guitar amp that needs to be retubed and somethings messed up with the inputs...ill have to have him look at that as well.

Chuck: Check out the Revolver TT offered on AG . What a great buy. Everything costs something ... Se Ya

Schipo, I heard the Nakamichi tt at Garland's in San Jose. As I remember it, it did make a difference(at a very high cost), but it still sounded like the direct-drive turntables of that era(not too good). BTW, people should be aware that many of these Technic's turntables that are raved about do not sound good stock. So, you have to modify them to get the sound that is talked about.

Gentlemen I am an avid vintage equipment collector. At the same time I have the audiophile bug in me. I have been reading this thread for some time now and some posts really make my laugh, others just make me shake my head. To the fellow that bought a Sota Cosmos III and had it upgraded to a Cosmos IV and then he fell for a Technics all i have to say is that his Comsos must have had some major issue with the electronics. For a moment reading this post I thought I had written it and had forgoten about it up to a certain point. You see I also bought a Cosmos III (used) and had it upgraded to a IV and NOTHING absolutely NOTHING mentioned in this thread can handle a candle to it. I had a Technics 1200 MK V that I used in my secondary system that I also put up against the Cosmos. It did not have the KAB upgrades and could not even hold a canlde to the Cosmos. I got rid of it, I could not stand this D-J look and the sound was cold and uninvolving with my Grado Reference cartridge. Now I own a Sony PS-X600 with a Shure 97 whatever cartridge, a Pioneer PL 570 (wooden base) and my pride and joy a Yamaha PF-800 by far the best of the bunch. I love the Grado sound and have used Grados for over a decade now and both the Pioneer and the Yamaha have Grado Sonatas on them). Each time I bought one of these vintage jewels I wished they had the cojones to displace the Sota but each time the Cosmos proved to be the musical 800 LB gorilla in my main system. Please read: I WNATED one of the vintage TTs to displace the Cosmos! I would sell it use the money for other stuff! My wishes were not asnwred! The Cosmos always sounded the best. Needless to say I always used my Grado Reference on the "contenders" just to keep the fight even...

I have kept the Pioneer and the Yamaha and I am going to give the Sony to my teenage daughter as a gift. She is also bitten by the audiophile bug...

The last couples of years or so I have acquired various vintage receivers ( Sansui 9090, Pioneer SX 1080, Sansui AU 717, Marantz 2275B, Sansui PX-800, Sony PS-X600, Pioneer PL 570, Kenwood KR-6600, Klipsh legacys II, Klipsh Forte etc. etc.). I have put each and every onw of these against my audiophile rig (Musical Fidelity KW 500, Egglestone Andra II speakers, Sota Cosmos with Origin Live Conqueror arm and Grado Reference cartridge, monarchy Audio M24 DAC and an older Yamaha CDX-810UCD player that I use as a transport) and the results have always been the same: No contest! I enjoy those as much as can be and I am always on the lookout for something "new" and different but I also know that science and technology does go ahead and given the same standards of build and quality newer technology outperforms older one. And this applies to cars, stereo equipment, Home appliances, airplanes and pencils.

Wishful thinking aside you can dream that your vintage TT or receiver can beat their modern equivalents any time of the day but in the end it will all be just that: Wishful Thinking. No, you do not have to be afraid of the super pricey TTs and I do agree that a lot of them are mostly hot air and moronic pricing but please come down to earth and smell the roses. Or just live your dreams and be happy. Thinking about it my POS chryshler Pacifica does handle better that that overpriced lexus, mercedes or Ferrari...or is it even better than those if I soup it up???

Enjoy the hobby guys...do not take this too seriously.

Cheers