Who has heard & compared the good tables?

Geoege
All I can tell you is while wondering the same thing it appears that among the mdeols you mentioned it is the Teres that has them,ost raves and trdes in's towards it.I won a $5K VPI rig for certain reason (time and place aI bought while working in a hifi shop,liking tube swap though there are other multi arm sets up yet they cost more to pay for second or third arm I do know that SME makes swapable head shellls.Think Graham might have tube swap).But I think Teres has gotten nod for easy towork on kit models or full builts that offere more on a DOLLAR to DOLLAR comparison.Other factors are going to affect choices like Apples and Oranges.A sprung Linn (I have one in second rig vintage 1983 un-upgraded with a Grace arm) will be the be all to one person but a Rega 9 which is super rigid and has tighjt tollerances will sound TOTALLY different with same cartridge.My own personal take is peoiple put to much stock in the tabel anyway.Your cartridge and phono sectionm will have bigger effect and in most cases an amr will mean more to the sound than the rest of table.Then comes the synergy of it all-that cart with how much flexinility of cap,resistance,gain of phpno pre it one companonent ahrd or one soft.If looking around or allready owning a rig my own vot would be for value or a good deal and if it's used how good a shapeit's in.I have never had a problem with my VPI Aries but my buddy once he had one problem that requires a fix it led to more fixes and hassles forever with his model 19.But if you got a goood tight 19 you can builkd off it and at a lower price and up with someone who just blindly plonks down more money on something that has more prestige and doesenm't have synergy with the res of there rigs.Lastly there are great product that make very little penetration into the USA market like the Blue Note tables from, Italy.

P.S.S get a good tech whop knows what they are doing.Tables are not like the skills meed to say hang and hook up a Plasma TV.You want to know that advice or work is comepetent.
all IMHO
chazzbo

I have owned all you mention and more, except for the Teres.

What kind of comparison are you looking for?

Best value, most memorable or fun, best during the time in which they were created, most reliable, easiest to set up, most beautiful or perhaps best performance regardless of price ?

For a start, here is an article I wrote for Positive Feedback on evolution of source which is precisely on this subject.

Evolution

That's a very interesting read, Albert - thanks!

While I would like to upgrade, going the Walker route would be an impossibility: it costs too much. $25K?

At any rate, can you name a few good tables that could stand the test of time? Tables that will be better than my Basis 2000? If the improvement is just marginal, I'd pass up the upgrade plan. But if I can hear significant improvement, I'm all ears.

I'm suprised you never mentioned any impressions you may have of any Teres table.

Best,
George

George,

I know Albert will be able to give you a much more experienced answer. However, the differences between your 2000 and a Basis 2500 will be quite significant. I made an upgrade from a 2001 to a 2500 last year. Much, much more dynamic and the bass will give you that chest thump feeling.

Dan

I agree with Dan on the upgrade path of Basis. In fact I was about to name a used Basis Debut Gold Mk IV as an "ultimate" cost effective goal.

The Walker is better, but a guy in my group just bought a Basis Debut Gold with Graham 1.5 ceramic arm for $3800.00. That's a lot of turntable for a reasonable price.

I also have a warm spot for the Well Tempered. I see them come and go for less than a grand and although no Basis Debut, it is a splendid performer and extremely quiet due to it's bearing design.

The only reason I have not mentioned Teres is because I owned all those other tables and have only heard the Teres at audio shows. While some show conditions are better than others it is pretty difficult to assume your hearing the turntable (or arm and cartridge) with all the associated equipment variables.

Chis and I spoke about the possibility of him bringing the big Teres to my home at some point. I can't imagine when he would have time with his backlog of orders but maybe a business trip will bring him this way and we can have a listen.

I'll second a used, older Well Tempered as a true high end bargain for the price (<$1000). I only wish that I knew this before I began my turntable quest. Great design, flexibility, sound, appearance, manufacturing et al. Well worth looking at for those trying to get to the true high end on a budget.

Bob

Albert,

I don't have obligations on Tuesday nights for the next few months. Perhaps we can schedule time for me to bring my Teres 255 down early, verify the set up, and give the crowd a show on your home turf. It's been a while since I've heard the Megalines anways. It's not the top-o-the-line Teres, but it may help provide perspective for bang-for-the-buck:

Teres 255
Origin Live Silver (w/ TWL HiFi Mod)
Shelter 501 mk II

Nicholas Renter

Mr Renter, the 255 is the acrylic platter with the lead weights, right?

I was able to hear the comparison between the acrylic and wood platter at the RMAF. Chris Brady was swapping them out whenever people wanted to hear the comparison. Based on what I heard, the wood platter is well worth the cost.

I'll have to fly down for that one AP!

Sounds good to me Nick. And Nate, come on down ! We still have plenty of Tex-Mex food left.

Right this minute we have no sound. New cables on the way from Purist Audio and hope in the next week or so to have her back up and running. I would be very happy for you to come, turntable or not, but we need the system running to determine anything.

What cartridge is in the Teres? If you want to really go crazy, we could put my Koetsu Rosewood Platinum in your table and my new-unmounted Koetsu Jade Platinum in my rig.

I know my Rosewood so well I could tell immediately what the Teres is doing. Can't say the same about the new Jade as it arrived yesterday and not even out of the box.

Yeah, I've got the lead-loaded acrylic platter (there is a picture of it posted on Audiogon - check out my system). I don't doubt the wood platter is better, but it was out of my price range when I upgraded my analog front end, as I upgraded the table, arm, cart and phono stage all at once.

I'm up for trying the Koetsu on the Teres - It would be interesting to hear it compared to the Shelter.

Albert, I'll check in with you in a couple of weeks.