AXPONA 2026

SOTA, the U.S.-based maker of turntables, phono stages, and related accessories, once again showed their many turntables both in the EXPO Hall marketplace and in demo rooms at AXPONA 2026. It’s worth mentioning that SOTA’s approaches to turntable building — and, by extension, pricing — are modular and customizable, and some of them also incorporate packages of their various electronics components.

Notably, the Delavan, Wisconsin-based company introduced a new iteration of their flagship Onyx turntable — part of their top-line Evolution Series — at AXPONA 2026, including a direct-drive version with vacuum functionality of the extant Onyx models with a base price of $30,000. SOTA’s Alison Palmer explained more to me about what was new.

The belt-driven version of the Onyx is also now currently available, either with or without the vacuum features ($30,250 with vacuum and Total Eclipse electronics package [Footnote 1]; $28,000 without vacuum). That now makes a total of four Onyx model options.

The Onyx table’s appearance also aims to embody a more luxurious look with shiny black powder-coated finish for its plinth, plus gold accents. Throughout the plinth are numerous circular indentations specifically placed to reduce standing waves.

The Onyx can accommodate several tonearms — and two of them were shown on the model in the EXPO Hall, where SOTA displayed more than a half-dozen turntables passively.

The Onyx’s direct-drive system uses a 78W thin-gap, coreless motor along with an encoder ring that “hits” — i.e., reads — 360,000 per rotation. This enables speed consistency to the tune of 5 or 6 thousandths — as in, out a few decimal places.

SOTA also upgraded certain materials in their manufacturing, such as MDF and lead; they’re now replacing those elements with phenolic resin, stainless steel, and aluminum parts. The Onyx’s platter, for example, is aluminum with a phenolic resin decorative piece.

Alongside the company’s many turntables shown at AXPONA were various SOTA accessories, from drive belts to isolation feet and armboards. Also displayed were their tiny but mighty Pyxi phono stage ($450), Condor power supply, RoadRunner tachometer, and more. Many SOTA turntables had opened plinths to show interior parts and construction differences (and one example is shown at the very end of this post, in fact). Armboards, specifiable by type, are available in phenolic resin and aluminum for $400.

Among the SOTA tables on display were models from the entry Urban Series, including the Quasar ($2,995 without tonearm), Comet ($2,125 with RB-330 tonearm; shown above), Escape ($1,900 with RB-220 tonearm; $1,650 without), and Moonbeam ($1,525 with RB-220 tonearm). Other tonearm packages are available with Rega arms, and all Urban Series tables come with a tonearm and a dustcover. A couple of midrange Heritage Series tables, such as the Cosmos and the Nova, were also on hand.

Apparently in HiFi Life’s Room 602 at the show, there was the newish belt-driven version of the Onyx turntable; regrettably, I missed that demo. However, I learned from a follow-up call to SOTA that they’ve recently begun manufacturing some of their own 1.25mm belts from EPDM rubber in-house as well, including the ones the Onyx uses. (They’re now testing them on the aforementioned mid-tier Heritage Series.) The extruded belts are said to be quite accurate with consistent height and diameter and have helped SOTA reduce their wow figures by half, Christian Griego told me.

However, in Room 720, I did briefly get to hear the belt-driven version of the SOTA Quasar table with an Ortofon LVB-250 cartridge in a system that included a Luxman E-07 phono preamp, an Eversolo DMP-A10 music streamer/player/DAC/preamp, and an Electrocompaniet ECI 6 MKII integrated amp ahead of a pair of Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G stand-mounted speakers.

Cueing up the opening title track from my copy of Jacob Wendt’s October 2024 Silver Street LP (Hayden) delivered a super swing feel, conveying the players’ spirited energy with punchy accents. The textures of Wendt’s snare and ride cymbal came through in detail. Harry Ostrander’s trumpet tones and solo style subtleties sounded realistic.

The SOTA Condor power supply unit and RoadRunner tachometer were connected to the turntable and showed remarkable accuracy in speed control. The last digit after the decimal point — i.e., the “4” in 33.334 — only varied between 4 and 5 once or twice during that track.

SOTA machines and manufactures their products in-house and locally sources natural woods such as cherry and walnut. Customers can choose from these or other wood options for the plinths of the majority of SOTA’s turntables.

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Footnote 1: For example, the Total Eclipse package ($1,500) includes a 3-phase motor, Condor digital power supply, and Roadrunner tachometer, plus 9V and 24V wall wart adaptors.

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Want more AXPONA 2026 coverage? We got you covered!

Go here for Ken Micallef’s video interview with Sierra Sound co-founder Michael Fajen and Aesthetix sales and marketing specialist Brent Hefley about the gear shown in the Sierra Sound room, which including the AMG Viella turntable with 12JT Turbo tonearm, Sorane SA-1.2 tonearm, and Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono stage — plus, we get an exclusive visit to “The Tonearm Garden”; this story first posted on April 27, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on a pair of American Audio & Video demo rooms at AXPONA 2026, with one of their systems featuring a Dual CS 529 turntable and Violectric PPA-V790 phono preamp, and the other featuring a Goldring GR3 turntable; this story first posted on April 23, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on a couple of Monarch Systems demo setups that included an SME Model 8 turntable and Loricraft Audio PRC6i professional record cleaning machine; this story first posted on April 20, 2026.

Go here for Julie Mullins’ report on the analog gear she encountered in some exhibit rooms that were put together in tandem by Technics and Nagaoka; this story first posted on April 15, 2026.

Go here for AP editor Mike Mettler’s report on an Acoustic Sounds listening session that deployed a Döhmann Helix One Mk III turntable, in addition to other high-end gear from Wilson Benesch, Supatrac, DS Audio, Audio Research, and Wilson Audio; this story first posted on April 14, 2026

Also go here for our sister site Stereophile‘s in-depth AXPONA 2026 coverage, which often includes video interviews with key manufacturer reps, product engineers, and equipment designers who were at the show.