At times decent soundstage,

Poor pitch control, musically uninvolving sound, at times sounds awful even with optimum cartridge alignment and good phono cartridge and phono stage

Sota turntables are way overrated. I hate mine and want to sell it a Black Star with Flywheel and Composite armboard. However I feel I should take a huge loss in selling it that is sell it cheap for not to rip someone off. This table sounds bad to me. I can't get a consistently musical sound out of it. Better arms and cartrodges reveal the weaknesses in the table. My Rega turntables were far less expensive and they truly sound great even with less expensive cartridges like Sumiko Blue Point Special. I think it is a poor design and I have even had several upgrades to it but it doesn't help much.

Similar Products Used:

Rega 3 and 25

Full bodied reproduction, xlnt quality

Not a simple combination

I recently picked up a Sota Star III/SME V arm/Grado Sonata comination in the beautiful Koa wood finish. Getting it set up is a bit complex (at least for me), particlualy the tone arm. Also, the addition of the vacuum hold down pump adds another layer of complexity and potential problems down the road. But, so far, this combo works perfectly. And, the sound is absolutely delicious. I'm now getting the most dimensional, realistic playback I've ever heard through my system. Hopefully this combo will hold up in the long-run.

Similar Products Used:

AR ETL-1, Thorens TD2001, TD125, Micro Seiki BL10X

recently purchased the Sota Star on the internet. I am new to the world of high quality components...The soundscape on this table is beautiful and exposes the limitations of my cheap cartridge that i was using on my previous turntable. I plan on upgrading the motor to the new series five. I have heard that sota was out of business, but i called the number and the helped quite nicely. the seperation of the left and right channel is spatial. i think sound is an individual preference and all things are relative in many respects. i feel fortunate to have picked this up for such a nice price...if anything it shows that some audiophiles don't mind helping others out by providing good equipment at a nice price...

i would recommend a SOTA to anyone looking for a beautiful soundscape. just make sure you have a quality cartridge because it will show if not...

if you have a SOTA and would like contact info...email me and i'll be happy to give it to you.