Selling this one owner Sota Star Sapphire iii turntable in the very rare cocobolo wood option with an SME 5 tonearm board. This turntable comes from a smoke free, pet free home. The owner explained to me that the springs have failed so the suspension on this turntable needs repair work. Because of this, the turntable is for parts or repair. Replacement springs and instructions can be bought from Sota or you can send the turntable in for the springs to be replaced by the company. The vacuum unit creates suction and the motor spins. The platter spins very smoothly. There is no belt so I could not check the speed. This sale includes the turntable, the original boxes for both the turntable and the vacuum/power supply unit, the dustcover, SME V tonearm board, the warrantee card.

A very fine SOTA Star Sapphire Series III with Audioquest PT6 tonearm. Originally sold in 1991, I did the original set-up of this table and arm for the customer. When I went through the table for resale, I thought it might need new springs, but the suspension was as perfect as it was when it left the shop over 20 years ago. There is a slow, beautiful piston-like motion, just like you want to have. The vacuum system quickly pulls the vinyl to platter. This solves two problems, the biggest is to flatten the warp that most records have, this reduces warp wow and helps control any cartridge/arm resonances. The other purpose is to help damp any vinyl resonances caused by the stylus vibrating in the group. The result is the clean, more focused sound one associates with a well-clamped/damped record. The platter clamp was upgraded to the SOTA Reflex clamping weight and a Sumiko PIB2 interface replaces the tonearms heavy cable. This prevents the cables mass and stiffness from affecting the suspension. These were very standard upgrades. The AQ PT6 arm was sourced from Jelco and is now known as the SA250ST. The arm bearings feel fine and the medium mass nature of this arm should work well with most modern cartridges. The arms cue level had lost its slow, damped descent and I repacked the cueing assembly for proper operation. Im including the syringe of silicone should you wish to add damping to the arm. Back when SOTA released the original Sapphire turntable, it knocked the reviewers on their ears and, even today, provides a level of vinyl playback that lesser turntables merely hint at. There is complete box and packing for the turntable and the tonearm. This assures that it can be shipped with a very much reduced chance of damage. The owners manuals and a number of reviews are included with the paperwork. You will need your Allen wrenches, a Philips screwdriver, a wrench to release the turntable from the wood shipping support, a smaller wrench to release the bearing lock, and a bubble level. I use one that is about 7 inches wide and measure the level at the platter, not the chassis. Im convinced this is more accurate. Lastly, although the original belt brings the platter up to speed quickly, I ordered a new SOTA best for you have when you need it. Happily, SOTA is still in business and has not abandoned any of its designs.