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http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ele/4780248846.html
I'll copy text for posterity //
Well, this is a weird turntable that will need some explaining so I'll do my best.
This is a Sota Gem turntable. Sota still makes high-end turntable. Their "cheapest" current model is $750 though most are between the $3k to $10k range.
When I first acquired the turntable four or five years ago, the drive motor was a tad loud. I contacted Sota to see if they sold repair parts and they couldn't find the turntable in their records. After a few days I got a call from their head technician and after describing the TT to him he said it was probably one of (or maybe the first) model they ever sold. Someone contracted them to manufacture the turntable for them. This was before they had their own line of turntables. It's probably a little piece of Sota history.
So it definitely is an audiophile turntable and as such is probably best at home with a person who knows about setting up and maintaining high end turntables. It's a bit finicky and needs to be set-up whenever it's moved, but it you've done that before you know it's not a bit deal.
It has a new motor (maybe 20 hours on it) and is dead silent. The old built-in RCA and ground cable has been removed and replaced with RCA outputs which is definitely an upgrade. It is belt driven and the actual turntable is completely isolated from the base by springs which suspend it from the main body. The table is not affected AT ALL by bumps or loud speakers in the room. No feedback. No hum. No nothing. It has a Grace tonearm (not sure what model. Hopefully you can identify from the pics) and an Oyster Blue cartridge/stylus. The tone-arm drop is the most dampened drop I have ever seen. It has a finicky 33 to 45 RPM switch that physically moves the drive belt to a different step on the platter to change speeds. It doesn't work great, but I never used it so it didn't bother me. It does work however.
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