Great set up I wecome you to the Rockport family which I still beleave is the finest turntable ever built period. I have owned a rockport since 1993 and currently own four of them two System 111 turntables and two of the last system 11 le mk2 with special revisions turntables andy built. One of the system 11 turntables uses the the Airtangent Reference arm with remote control which I thinks sounds just amazing on the rockport it has a custom made damped stainless arm plate. I also use the continuum caliburn and owned a criterion. In my collection I also have the Sme 30/12 turntable with 12 inch arm custom made with gold plated parts for the deck and arm.
The rockports just sound more correct to my ears they dissapear and have a inky black sound that I have never heard before with a huge sence of presence they dont sound over impressive in the Hifi sence but just natural with amazing solidity and controll
You have got your self a real bargain as parts alone these days for the unit are crazy the drive alone with the MDA system is over $60000 I know I am freinds with Tim Sheridhan the designer. The system 111 is the worlds most expensive turntable if you look at the cost of the parts even in 1996 it was sold cheaply as andy did not put a export margin on it. He infact lost money on the project and thats a fact the continuum has a 65 percent margin built in just for export and dealers but not the rockport. I sat down with Tim and andy one day and calculated what a system 111 would sell for today given all the proper industry margins it would come to over $60000 the parts alone would be $150000 each for a batch of 10. At $600000 it would be cheaper than other turntables that use a 8 times ratio but no one could afford one. Now you know why system V will never happen I have seen the drawings. Andy says it is very hard to improve on the system 111. In a sence all owners of system 111 turntables should guard them like gold. The cost of parts is far more than they paid all those years ago.
