AS Challenger mk 2 vs. Avid Diva 2 sp vs. Rega P9

Fjn04-My goal was around $5k for tt/arm/cartridge which i'll probably exceed(lol)! The Avid and AS retail at $4500(no arm) but discounts can be found. One retailer has a new P9 for $3995 so I expect the price(s) to fall even more as the RP10 is unveiled(no official pics yet). Are you using a Dynavector 20x2 on the Amadeus?

Dayglow- In main system, which is listed on my system page, I have an Amadeus. I have an Emt TSD-15 mounted on it. The retail on the EMT is around $1800. For my second system, I just bought another TT. I was debating between a Rega RP6 and Simplex. While leaning toward the Simplex, I then justified getting an Amadeus. So as crazy as it sounds, I am buying another Amadeus. I believe the Amadeus may be the sweet spot in the line, and I wanted to have that 10.5" arm. I figure the longer arm won't be a limiting factor for any future cartridge. There are quite a few nice TT/arm/cart setups in your $ range. I am no expert, but look at it all as a system. If you want to use the ZYX, make sure the TT/arm that you buy will match up. Then of course, the same goes for the phono stage.

Yes Dayglow, I scooped up the only Rock 7 I have ever seen used. I previously had an Amadeus, and agree with Greene's assessment of the two tables, though note that Greene was using a Rega 301 arm. Trough or no trough the table needs a better arm than that. I run it with a Moerch DP-6 with a ZYX cart.

Power is not a wall wart. And motor doesn't seem a problem to me. I haven't noticed power cord differences but only briefly played with that. If you are worried about the power, maybe pair it with a VPI SDS?

Build is much more substantial than the Amadeus. You can see my comparisons between the tables on AudioCircle.

Just noticed that Steve Guttenberg cited the Rock as one of his 2012 Top 10 on his CNET blog.

The Amadeus GTA is vastly different in a build quality sense when compared with the MDF based Amadeus. I don't think the standard Amadeus has poor build quality, but I agree that it is not "substantial" feeling. I was surprised how much better the GTA is in this regard and it does sound better too.

Vortrex, Did you think the GTA was better in any specific area? I haven't done any comparisons, but I could still upgrade my order.
Word has it that the upgrade path is like:
Simplex > Amadeus= 10% better, Amadeus > Amadeus GTA= 5%....
Sorry to steal the spotlight, but this info could prove useful to the OP. Cheers, Don