Schroeder model 2 or Morch DP6?

Rwd,

Sorry for being outdated! Milo is correct, Hudson took over from Audio Advancements, although the latter is still showing both lines on their website.

Yes, the TriPlanar allows VTA on the fly. So does the Schroeder Reference, though not their two lower models.

Cello and I have discussed our Schroeder/TriPlanar/Graham comparisons to death here. Seach the archives and you'll find all the opinions you could ask for!

For my partner and me, the main appeal of the TriPlanar vs. the Reference was repeatable arm height settings. The Ref has a an equally sensitive adjustor but no visual scale. There's no way to accurately repeat a known setting. That was very important to us, since we adjust for every record and record arm heights on each LP. Maybe not so important for others.

OTOH the Ref is magnificently designed and made. I doubt there's a more beautiful looking or sounding arm out there, and dealing with Frank Schroeder is a genuine pleasure. Choosing another arm over his top model was not easy. In the end its all about personal preferences, a fact which he acknowledged graciously. He even gave me some ideas to improve our TriPlanar's sound. He's a true gentleman.

You're welcome to listen to our rig if you're ever in central CT. Not so far from the NYC area, maybe worth a day before dropping $4K+ on an arm.

WOW,DOUG!VTA for every record!That is the way to go,but I'm too lazy for that one.I DO give you credit as it clearly makes a difference.

Case in point--after J.Valin was talking about Alicia Delarocha's pedal work,and sustain,on the London pressing,of the Montsalvedge Pno. Cto,I checked to see if I had it.I did,so I scoped out the exact passage,he alluded to.It was way dry sounding,and thin.This,just after I had tuned for vta,using my usual LP's.I then adjusted vta,again,for this disc,and all was superb,yet my other discs were thrown off.

Different cutting heads and other variables clearly can alter vta(as I'm sure you know),but what a pain in the tush!Yet it is the way to go,if one is really serious.

I did have an acquaintance who had a HUGE vinyl collection(all the early stuff,on every label)and it was his arm that really got my envy going,BIG TIME.He had the Air Tangent,but unlike my pal Sid,he had the version which had a remote control for electronically setting vta,with a digital numerical readout.He had each lp's vta setting marked on the inner sleeve of ALL his "thousands" of discs.GOD,that IS what I'd die for.Believe me,all my little misgivings,about what arm sounds "this way,or that way" would fly out the window,if I could have that "masterpiece".Only problem--It cost about 13 grand,and I believe it may now be extinct.Yet it was NO Dinosaur!!

Anyway I'd be willing to bet you are in better shape than that guy!!All he had to do was push bottons,from his chair,but we get a full cardio workout!

I would strongly suggest you contact Mehran at Sorasound (sorasound@sbcglobal.net). He may be able to help you in many different ways, whichever arm you decide to go with. He also sells ZYX cartridges, which should sound great with any of the 3 that were mentioned here.

Enjoy,
Bob

Different cutting heads and other variables clearly can alter vta

Indeed. Many people apparently don't hear it, or haven't. But once you do there's no mistaking it. In fact, if I can't dial in arm height quickly and confidently it's a sure sign that something's amiss in my system.

..but what a pain in the tush!Yet it is the way to go,if one is really serious.

We started down this insane path because, like you and most of us, I'm a tweak-ophile and futz-a-holic. Paul thought I was nuts, until one day I finally stumbled onto the sweet spot for some record.

SNAP!

He literally came running into the listening room from the den (two rooms away!) "What did you just do?". I showed him. It was a microscopic turn of the Expressimo VTA collar on our old OL Silver/Shelter 901.

We were doomed. Paul literally found it painful to listen if VTA/SRA wasn't dialed in. (At Cello's he was able to set arm height on Larry's Graham just by the feel of the pressure wave coming from that rear-facing driver on his SF Extremas, without even listening. It's rather scary.)

Clearly our OL/Expressimo had to go. Adjustment on the fly became mandatory. Enter TriPlanar.

...he had the version which had a remote control for electronically setting vta,with a digital numerical readout.

SHUSH! If Paul learns there's an arm with that facility he'd trade my RX-8 for one. Then I'd have to come find you!

He had each lp's vta setting marked on the inner sleeve of ALL his "thousands" of discs.

Same here. After cleaning, each LP gets a new inner sleeve and a yellow sticky with the record's weight noted (proxy for thickness). We estimate an arm height based on experience with similar labels, weights and pressings, then find the optimal spot by listening. The exact setting from the arm's dial gets noted on the yellow sticky (to the nearest 1/200th of a revolution of the arm's dial).

Of course each new cartridge requires a different setting, but the changes are consistent. For any particular record, if the Airy 2 we reviewed liked a setting of "0" then the Airy 3 liked a setting of "8" and our UNIverse likes a setting of "18".

When we upgraded TT drive belts last summer all our settings changed again. Oy! Instead of "18" for that record with the UNIverse we're now at "29.5". Superior TT resistance to stylus drag affects how the stylus and cantilever react to the groove. This was actually quantifiable using the TriPlanar's dial and repeatable from record to record.

We may be in good shape from all that jumping up and down, but that doesn't stop us from being INSANE!

Cheers,
Doug

Doug--In this case,I think,"insane" is the sane way to go!