Schroder sq and the new talea

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.

Dgad: It is my understanding that it was the other way around. I heard Frank approached Joel. :)

Lewm: When I was there, Frank was controlling his volume. My teeth are worn down from that session. :)

Hi Lew,

As far as volume is concerned, I left it to Frank and Joel, who knew the musical selections. With the Atma-sphere's stepped attenuators, it was impossible to obtain an exact volume match.

I'm still recovering from the show, and I'll revisit the other comments in this thread in the coming days. Your observation was an easy one to address quickly however.

My biggest regret (as I posted in the "meet and greet" thread) was to let "team Schroeder" show up at the last minute with a piece that we had to spend time positioning in order to eliminate hum - at everyone's expense, and in a room being heated with OTL's and Dave Slagle's Tequilla and beer.

Frank put me in a difficult position when he advised Joel and me at 4pm on Saturday, that his sample of the A90 wasn't consistent with his earlier experiences of the cartridge. The arm had yet to be mounted on the Stelvio-II at that time.

Frank proposed that we might round up a second sample of a Dynavector XV-1s, a cartridge he has on more than one occasion diplomatically stated was not his preference.

Perhaps Frank can comment further.

In an attempt to give Frank every opportunity to shine, I let him in the door with a wonderful, $20K LCR phono stage designed by Jeffrey Jackson (being exported to Asia by Artemis Labs). 30-50 people were inconvenienced for 40 minutes as a result of this late (but wonderful) entry.

Those who expected a definitive outcome were amply forewarned, but having said that, I would have liked to have been able to maintain a bit more consistency between the two rigs.

If you trace back through the other threads on this forum, you'll note that I requested that we begin working on equipment compatibility on Thursday night, and locking it down by Friday night at the latest.

Had I taken a hard line on this, we would have listened to only the Talea, and I would have come off as shutting the Schroeder out of the picture. I was in a difficult situation in this regard. Perhaps I should have taken a hard line on this.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Thom,
I think as long as people enjoyed themselves and are adult enough to deal with and understand what went on, I think you did no wrong by letting it go on, even if it may not have turned out to be the comparison some hoped for. From Mosin's comments (#3 comment in the thread), one doesn't get the feeling Frank and Joel are wrapped up in angst as to how things turned out. And as Dgad points out, whoever owns one but not the other tonearm still has a tonearm which until recently was thought of as top dog or which for many people is now (or still) top dog. Bravo to you for making the effort to allow two top tonearm designers to put on a well-considered and highly anticipated display of analog reproduction prowess. I am sure that many who attended were afforded a taste of the possible and went home dreaming that some of the 'losing' tonearms start showing up on Audiogon at half price. I, for one, would have loved to have been there.