wobble and wear that come with age on other turntables. Two magnets with opposing polarities are mounted to the
bottom of the platter and the upward-facing floor of the bearing block. These opposing magnets provide precisely
the amount of strength needed to support the weight of the platter, allowing it to levitate without the use of a bearing
or Sapphire stone. The elimination of weight-bearing points afforded by this design leads to a lower noise floor (as
there is less sound energy conducted up to the platter from the environment) and results in less noise caused by
the friction of a spinning platter/bearing assembly. This remarkable system completely eliminates the need for
sapphire stone replacements, only requires lubrication during the initial installment, and eliminates the need for
transit screws and platter locking plates, as the platter can now be lifted into and out of place with ease. Thus, the
SOTA platter achieves the design goal of Dynamic Stability, as well as long-term, maintenance-free dependability.
The SOTA Floating Seismic Platform
The lofty goal of Environmental Isolation resulted in the development of SOTA’s unique sub-chassis system, the
Seismic Platform.Environmental Isolation necessitates isolating the moving platter from all the physical and
mechanical threats (footfalls, room resonances, air-borne waves, etc.) that will ultimately disrupt the retrieval of the
information contained in the record grooves.
Key to the SOTA floating seismic platform is the theory of basic mechanics, which tells us that the motion of a
moving mass will be most constant when supported by the inertia of a greater mass. The SOTA turntables’ 14 lb.
platter is successfully isolated from the environment due to the enormous mass of the 22-pound, unified, precision
machined, aircraft grade aluminum COSMOS sub-assembly. Each sub-chassis is individually balanced at the
factory, complete with attached motor and matching platter assemblies.
The unique SOTA COSMOS turntable sub-chassis is then hung from a four-point spring suspension, giving it all the
stability of four pendulums at rest. The four springs are damped to absorb high frequencies and decoupled from the
sub-chassis to minimize energy transfer, fixing the suspension frequency at 2.5 Hz. By “hanging” the sub-chassis on
springs, gravity stabilizes all external energies due to the centering tendency of the pendulum motion, rather than
pulling the mass off center as is the case in the typical “compressed” spring suspension. With a four point
suspension (made of four springs placed equi-distant from the center of gravity) and four equal masses (one of
which is the adjusted mass* of the tonearm), the COSMOS offers a level of stability that can only be achieved with a
constantly-balanced mass system. No matter the tonearm, mass is constant, motion is predictable, and the end
result is once again a system that achieves our goal of Dynamic Stability.
The SOTA Drive System
The SOTA COSMOS turntable employs a low-vibration, 3-phase brushless DC motor paired with a
State-Of-The-Art motor control developed by Phoenix Engineering, known as the Condor. Paired with the Condor,
each SOTA COSMOS is outfitted with a Roadrunner Tachometer, which provides constant monitoring and
adjusting of the platter’s speed. This remarkable device measures and displays the speed of the platter and
constantly adjusts to keep the platter within ±5RPM of the intended speed. Its slow, methodical adjustments fight
the effects of thermal drift without creating sudden, audible changes in speed. The Roadrunner also logs the hours
of time the platter has spent spinning, allowing users to more easily keep apprised of stylus maintenance. The
result is sufficient torque to start the heavy platter, plus exceptional speed stability regardless of sub-chassis
motion or the power company’s voltage/frequency fluctuations. The ultra-low loss motor insures long life and cool
operation, and is run at low power to minimize invasive energy. Finally, each precision, hand-assembled drive
system is topped with a polished, low profile pulley, each individually balanced, driving a precision cast, long-life,
low-tension belt.
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* Mass of tonearm plus COSMOS armboard
SOTA Set-up Versatility=Guaranteed Results
Unlike most every turntable design which adjusts Spring Tension to adjust for various tonearm-assembly weights,
SOTA turntables adjust Mass, a far simpler and vastly more predictable method of set-up. The SOTA turntable
set-up allows you to vary the mass of the system to compensate for the mass of the arm (much like balancing a tire
