Kuzma Stabi S and 4point? overkill?

I've often wondered that. Obviously the table is important, but how important is it compared or the arm/cartridge? Has anyone anywhere run a test like this? Great arms and cartridges on decent tables? Would be interesting I imagine.

I've often wondered that. Obviously the table is important, but how important is it compared to the arm/cartridge? Has anyone anywhere run a test like this? Great arms and cartridges on decent tables? Would be interesting I imagine.

Wow this old thread of mine suddenly seems to have legs. I ended up not going with a “mismatch” as I intended, but jumping to a Stabi M/4 Point. I’ve been very pleased with it. 

It’s excellent. I’m fan of the high torque/plastic belt design. Drive that reminds me of a Garrard 301, but with more finesse.

Yes I’m not generally one to try and put these things into words. I tend to thing turntables are incredibly difficult to compare when we’re also factoring in preamps, cartridges, tonearm, etc... All those things NOT being equal within my system I can say the M outshines my fully restored Garrard 301 and Thorens TD-124, as well as the Merrill Williams/Triplanar and Basis 2500/Vector that I previously had. 

The M is a joy to use. It simply feels right. It gets up to speed in a couple of seconds and is robust enough to not have to stop spinning between records (as Kuzma even suggests). After two years of use it is still perfectly level. The only maintenance required is a belt cleaning ever 6 months - year. Vibration and footfalls are non existent. That said it’s in my basement on a concrete floor...

All in all it’s a workhorse of a turntable that has a transcription-esque feel. 

Lastly, I was lucky enough to find it just barely used, so the price was right for me.