Schroder sq and the new talea

Dertonarm: Well said. There were so many people interested in this and it was a complete farce. A person with good intentions would not have manupulated people this way.

When only the best will do

Reference

Great one Syntax. Where do you find these cartoons?

I didn't go to the shootout while there. Simple reason. I knew that it would end up being inconclusive. Every arm has it's synergies and I know a few who are not fond of the A90. I also know a few who love it. Goes to show how important the system is. What would we know in a few hours in an unfamiliar system / room etc. What if the system is voiced away from neutral and you hear the Talea/ A90 balancing out a warm system w. extra detail (just a random example - I wouldn't know) I personally know how capable the Schroder is and how difficult it is to better. I have no idea about the Talea, but if I was marketing an arm, I would definitely go after Schroder's market to get my arm accepted. The only one with something to lose is the one on top. Those who haven't heard the Schroder perform well, I am sorry. Either it is not to your taste or you heard it in a poorly setup system. I have an idea about who, when & where you heard it but I would add the arm is not easy to setup and speaking with a few previous owners of Schroders, not all truly understand how to set it up (what a pain). You need to match the armwand to the cartridge. Since it has a magnetic bearing the armwand material is more critical for damping than in a gimbal arm.

Jtinn, So that was you with the iPhone displaying the db level. I was looking at your phone display over your shoulder, but at that distance (standing in the back of the room, you were about 3 rows in front of me) I could not make out the data read-out. I also noticed that you left the room early. Dre had a similar app on his iPhone. He was standing along the window side of the room. But I wonder why the discrepancy in volume was not corrected, since in my mind, anyway, Thom was running the show in terms of volume setting. I do not and did not think that Thom had a vested interest in the outcome, so I could only assume that the difference in SPL had been corrected, once you and others observed that the Schroeder was played at higher levels. On at least one occasion, it seemed to me that the Talea was louder than the Schroeder. Anyway, I pretty much hated all the musical selections, which is what finally drove me away (to Steve Dobbins' quieter, calmer atmosphere). FWIW, others told me the same, that up closer to the speakers, the Talea had an edge over the Schroeder. I did not by any means take my observations to indicate anything at all about the relative merits of the two tonearms, because of the phono stage and cartridge differences. Glad the MP1 did so well for the Talea, because I own one (an MP1, that is). As I noted, it was obvious from the get-go that this was no kind of mano a mano "shoot-out". And so what? It was fun anyway to see so many crazy audiophiles grinding their teeth and taking it so seriously. I include myself, of course.