$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Artar1, I agree with Doug's assessments on the Teres 245. You only have to finish it yourself if you want to save the money. I bought my 245 finished, but there is quite a bit of assembly work to put it together when you take it out of the boxes.

I can tell you from alot of experience, that a Teres 245 with an OL Encounter tonearm, and a Shelter 501, is an exceedingly enjoyable analog system, with very little fuss or bother, once it is initally set up correctly. They are all excellent matches with each other, and will produce well beyond your expectations.

You'll need a good phono section with at least 62db gain(added to 15db-20db in the linestage) for best results with low-output MC cartridges like the 501.

I'm a very "bang for the buck" oriented guy, and I use a Teres 245, OL Silver(HiFi modded), and a Shelter 501. That is my choice for best sound for the money. For an arm with no mods, the OL Encounter would be an excellent choice because it slightly outperforms the modded OL Silver, and is just a "drop-in" tonearm into any(slightly reamed out) Rega armhole. You'd really have to work hard to outperform that combo for the same money, and I'm not sure that it can be outperformed at it's price point.

Three other ideas:

If a 245 is too much, take a look at the 160. The plinth isn't quite at the 200 series level, but the lead-weighted platter *might* make up a lot of the difference. I haven't heard a 150/160 so that's just an idea, not a recommendation. You do get the exact same bearing, platter, motor and controller however, first class components all.

Keep an eye on the Teres "Scratch 'n' Dent" page. Chris gets trade-ins from time to time and you might find a deal.

If you want better VTA/SRA adjustment than the fiddly OL ring, the Teres VTA adjuster works much better. That's something you can add down the road if you're not sure about it up front.

Doug,

Nice to see you remember the sale page!

Artar1,

I have to agree with Tom, but I think there are other cartridges you would like better. But, if you go with the Moerch, with it's interchangable tubes, the you open yourself to almost any cartridge on the planet. Doug is the classical music afficianado, and I would take any advice he gives you with great weight. I don't know what Tom listens to regularly, but his advice (and Doug's and a few others here) have helped countless people here, myself included.

Where are you located? I have an open door policy if someone wants to hear my Teres. And I'm not the only one. If it will help you in your quest, come on down & take a listen.

Alright already! I remembered, I remembered. Whad'ja expect from a classical-loving dinosaur?

Classical is a particularly tough challenge for a system. Even jazz is easy by comparison, and pop/rock are a cake walk. Natural instrumental and voice timbres are hard to get right, and painful when they're wrong. Throw in a dynamic range that can go from complete silence in one breath to house-shaking crescendoes in the next. Then expect your system to differentiate an oboe from a viola from an alto solist when Bach has all three doubling on the same line in the middle of it all.

Funny thing is, vinyl does it so much better than the best digital I've heard that it's not even close. Unfortunately, it's not even cheap either. ;-) Damn TWL and his advice. I should have retired with my Bose 901's and zip cord. Now I'll have to work two jobs until I'm about 90.

Dsiggia,

There's no question about it: the phono cartridge is very important, and with the help of everyone here, I am sure the turntable and tonearm I will choose will be more than good enough to support the cartridge.