Time to move on from my old SOTA ?

Larseand, I owned a SOTA back in the '80s and always found it to be a very good and consistent performer. Then a few years ago a friend wanted to sell his Sapphire so I bought it with the intention of setting up a dedicated mono system (I have hundreds of mono LPs). His came with a Premier FT-3 arm.

Upon audition after getting it home I was disappointed in the sound, it seemed to lack focus. So, being a hands-on hobbyist I took the plinth apart, cleaned everything, filled all the screw holes (many would not retain the screws well), then put it all together again. Checking with the good folks at SOTA I found the test for the suspension springs was the inner platform should hang evenly and no more than about 1/8" below the oak frame. Fortunately my springs were good (if bad they can be re-tempered for much less than new ones) and the ability to tighten up all the fittings eliminated the lack of focus with the sound. Also my belt was still good so my only cost was the time spent to "refurbish" my table.

Whether you want to do-it-yourself like I did or rely on Kirk at SOTA to refresh yours, I cannot imagine you would likely get similar performance without spending more.

If its in your budget have Kirk bring it up to new spec. What has been said about 80's technology is silly. It was ahead of its time with a jeweled bearing, pendulum suspension, excellent motor etc. Not much out there can beat it refurbed without spending lots more money.

Thanks for your input everyone. I'm going to send my old friend back to Chicago for an update.

I still enjoy my old Saphire star sounds great since 1984.

I have the Star and while most would wax enthusiastically about its sonic merits, I would, if given the chance financially, replace it with a suspensionless table. Quite frankly, I never really found the vacuum to be an asset and more of a pain in the rear than anything.