Upper Level Vintage DD Strenghts and Weaknesses

Actually I have had a history with these kinds of tables in the past. In the late 90s I ended up being an early adopter of the Teres Audio turntable, and I had a pretty nice one with an Eminent Technology II air bearing tone arm. In a moment of temporary insanity I thought I could be happy with a digital only stereo. Utter foolishness, and I sold my analog stuff. 

About 6 years later I re-entered vinyl, and I did that with a Townshend Rock MK III but it really was not on par with my Teres. I ended up buying a Galibier Serac and was quite happy with it for a number of years even though it was a somewhat homely table. I used a Riggle Engineering 12" Woody arm on it. 

The common thread connecting these two tables is they were designed by Chris Brady and Thom Mackris, who were both founding members of the Teres Project. The table that inspired that project and their initial model was....The Scheu table. So I enjoyed both of those tables immensely, and I really should have kept the Teres. This purchase allows me to reach back to the genesis, to get the TOTL table from the company that inspired them. 

There is an added benefit that this table does not take up a lot of room. I have a credenza that hold my gear, and I have a SOTA Cosmos Eclipse on it and a Well Tempered Reference next to it. The amount of room available for a third table is a bit limited. The Scheu will fit that space, and other tables make everything quite cramped. When I had an Amazon Reference on here I had literally no room between the tables. So this is an added benefit for me. Additionally it can accept another arm board, so if I want to adding a second arm is pretty easy. 

Finding an isolation base for it would be a bit challenging as its somewhat monolithic. Weight is 38 KG, so just shy of 80 pounds. Finding a platform to handle that level of weight might be a bit of a challenge. 

Its getting ready to ship. Coming UPS from Warsaw. So i don't expect to see it for at least a week. Waiting is always the toughest part. 

It looks like your plan has a Solid Foundation from experiences enjoyed.
The acquisition of a TT built with today's technologies, that has been a inspiration in the past, is surely an exciting venture.
This is a approach, I seem to get caught up in, investigating and pursuing using modern technologies on TT's.  

Very much looking forward to your user evaluations when you are ready to report on them.

Picked up an Ortofon MC200. Has a fine line stylus, boron cantilever, samarium cobalt ring magnet, and Ortofons WRD damping system. Output is low...

Do you like it?
It's Concorde MC200 ?  

Rare model, most people forgot the Concorde was an MC and not for DJs :) Because later the Concorde MM became the most significant model and the best seller (but not for audiophiles) on professional market. 

@chakster 

This is the Ortofon MC200U, which is the 1/2 inch version. They did make one with an integrated head shell. This integrated design also was sold under the Concorde name, and they had a T4P version called the CMC I believe. The one I have looks like the OM body cartridge, but its silver and has a non user replicable stylus. 

This is a cartridge I have owned before. I remember thinking it was respectable but not really a wow moment. But I wanted a cartridge for casual listening to keep the hours off my main cartridge so I grabbed this one again. I installed it on a Zupreme headshell with stock cartridge wires, and while this is probably too much mass for it, its what I had at the time. I think I will order a carbon fiber head shell to use with this cartridge. I got the pleasant but a bit unexciting presentation, and I also had a bit of low level hum. So I swapped in some silver litz cartridge wires I had recently bought, and that did the trick. No noise, and more open presentation. I am enjoying this cartridge, and even as we speak its playing at this moment. The sound is interesting, its somewhat effortless with good flow, a bit fuller than many modern cartridges, but still well detailed but the truth is its not as resolving as my ZYX or Transfiguration. But this cartridge is just meant for casual listening, and one where i will use the hours up and then send it as a trial to a new retipper to see what he is capable of. 

This led me down memory lane and thinking about the vintage moving coils I have liked in the past, and in some ways wish I still had here. I enjoy listening to the Denon 103M which reminds me a lot of the Denon DL304. But the output voltage is .12 mV, and also the Fidelity Research MC202 with an output voltage of .13 mV. These are tough output voltages to work with, but I wonder if the low number of coil windings is what contributes to the wonderful sound of those cartridges. At that time you likely had to use step up transformers. In my case I have an Esoteric E-03 phono stage that can handle those low voltages. I prefer the sound of an active phono stage over a two piece set up using a SUT in the first gain stage. 

The Ortofon MC200 is even worse with an output voltage of .09 mV. But it uses some pretty snazzy technology for a cartridge this age. Boron cantilever, fine line nude (line contact) stylus, samarium cobalt ring magnet, and Ortofons WRD damping system which is still found on their higher level cartridges today.

So all in all its a nice cartridge, and I am getting very good sound and I bought it very inexpensively. 

The one I have looks like the OM body cartridge, but its silver and has a non user replicable stylus.

So it’s like this, but without replaceable stylus?
Here is the specs for "U"

Interesting that these type of cartridges were popular back then, so many manufacturers made "OM-alike" design, but most of them were MM.

SONY made an MC-1 and MC-3 with, but my personal favorite are MM XL-50 with Boron Pipe (and very rare XL-70 with Sapphire cantilever). I was lucky to find a few NOS samples of XL-50, now I hope to replace my XL-70 with NOS unit. 

Accutex (Azden) cartridges have the same "OM-alike" design.

Stanton and Pickering also made something similar.

The Ortofon MC200 is even worse with an output voltage of .09 mV. But it uses some pretty snazzy technology for a cartridge this age. Boron cantilever, fine line nude (line contact) stylus, samarium cobalt ring magnet, and Ortofons WRD damping system which is still found on their higher level cartridges today.

I never tried Concorde or OM MC200, but I have Ortofon MC2000 with terribly low output too, and all the advanced technology of that age. MC2000 is completely different from MC200.

the Fidelity Research MC202 with an output voltage of .13 mV. These are tough output voltages to work with, but I wonder if the low number of coil windings is what contributes to the wonderful sound of those cartridges. At that time you likely had to use step up transformers. In my case I have an Esoteric E-03 phono stage that can handle those low voltages.

Besides the FR best 7f and 7fz, I enjoyed PMC-3 and now discovered the MCX-3 designed by Ozawa (now Shelter) which I posted in FR dedicated thread recently.