$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Salectric (Dave),

You have made some very useful and valuable points. Thanks for sharing your experiences. You have made many compelling observations in favor of the Galibier ALU, which seem irrefutable. But I would like to explore several points if I may.

I am looking at the Galibier ALU, as is Letch. But unlike Letch, I am not sure I can afford the ALU’s asking price, which is more than a thousand dollars higher than the Teres 255, a turntable that is already quite expensive by many standards. So I guess you and Letch are, or will be, playing on a “higher” field, which is great, of course.

You mentioned that your first concern regarding the Teres 255 was its long-term dimensional stability because its plinth and tonearm mount are made of wood, and not aluminum. Are you concerned that the main turntable bearing would somehow work itself loose inside its hardwood housing over time causing rotational speed inaccuracies and unwanted platter wobble? Isn’t aluminum a relatively soft metal? Wouldn’t stainless steel be a better choice, albeit a very expensive one? Stainless is not only more ridged, but has greater tensile strength along with a greater ability to withstand tarnishing. However, because of steel’s greater mass and density, it may have a greater tendency to ring so a more elaborate damping system would have to be devised, which explains in part why aluminum was chosen. It’s interesting to note that, according to Art Dudley’s review of the Galibier Quattro Supreme ($6,600 as tested), concentric channels are dilled into the bottom of the plinth and filled with lead shot and oil in accordance with a computer model. The oil and lead, no doubt, serve as a damping mechanism to reduce ringing.

Letch, if you are reading, the Galibier ALU uses a solid PVC platter in its standard configuration, minus the added benefit of oil-and-lead mass weighting. Not only that, PVC, as a material, is softer than acrylic while not providing the same tensile and dimensional rigidity. Yet it’s heavier. However, lead can be added to acrylic, as is the case with the Teres 255, to increase mass and to improve rotational speed accuracy. If you purchase a Galibier, you may want to consider the aluminum-Teflon patter for an additional $1,250! Also note that it’s my understanding, according to Art Dudley’s article, the plinth of the Galibier ALU lacks the added benefit of oil-and-lead mass weighting found in the Quattro Supreme, yet another compromise as it were. Without this damping material, the aluminum plinth might exhibit increased ringing, degrading to the turntable’s signal-to-noise ratio. Now whether this added ringing is audible is another matter indeed!

I am wondering whether Teres is still having trouble with the servo control of its DC motor, if they are really using a servo-control mechanism. If the problem is still there, that would be troubling indeed. I wonder if anyone reading this post can respond to this question. Yet, I don’t quite understand your objection to servo control? Could you elaborate, perhaps? The Teres web site describes their DC controller mechanism this way:

“The Teres is best described as a self calibrating fixed DC regulator…The quality of the regulator used with a DC motor has a significant sonic effect. Listening evaluations have shown that even small modifications to the circuit are clearly audible. The Teres regulator circuit has been carefully optimized to provide the best possible sound.

The Teres regulator starts with a high performance regulator constructed from discreet components. This circuit offers far better performance than simple IC regulators that are more commonly used. For you technical types it consists of a precision current source feeding into a shunt regulator. The result is excellent immunity from input noise and extremely low dynamic impedance. This translates into better pitch stability and ultimately better sound.

Building on a capable regulator design the Teres regulator is implemented using only the highest quality components. Component selection was guided by careful listening evaluations where component differences could be reliably identified. This optimized regulator using, Black Gate capacitors, high quality film capacitors and low DCR inductors offer improvements in musicality that is not subtle.”

(http://www.teresaudio.com/i_motor.html)

It’s also interesting to note that Teres offers a lifetime warranty on all of their motors, and they go out of their way to describe the construction of these motors, stopping short, of course, of calling them servo controlled. Nevertheless, one of the first upgrade items I intend to buy will be a replacement motor, along with numerous turntable belts, in case Teres should ever go out of business.

Raul,

Thanks for your kind thoughts and observations. The cartridge is very important, as you have pointed out. I also think that balancing the system, as Twl has suggested, is also important. For me, which I believe it was your suggestion, I will start with the Shelter 501 and put it on an Origin Live tonearm, either the Encounter or the Illustrious.

And thank you for your continued support of the Acoustic Signature turntable. However, I think my heart is set on buying the Teres 245 or 255; I like the look of wood.

Thanks for posting.

Artar1

Jphii,

Because you built your Teres from scratch, it might be useful for some of us if you were to describe the process for us and to comment on the overall quality of the turntable, if you wouldn't mind. I think that would be very instructive and helpful for some of us newbees, like me.

Well, you’re not the only one who has blown his budget all to hell. If you’ve heard of “A Bridge too Far,” right, well my analog saga is becoming “A Turntable too Much!” Let’s see, my budget started out at $3,000 for the turntable, tonearm, and cartridge. Now it’s over five big ones! Help! As of today, I am up to a Teres 255, an Origin Live Illustrious, and a Shelter 501. Why the Illustrious? Hey, I just love that name, don’t you? It looks a little better than the Encounter (I can just see Twl rolling his eyes!), and it has a few more refinements that I like. What concerns me about both the Encounter and the Illustrious is that in some photos it appears that the back end of the arm base is hanging over the edge of the arm board mount, which would be aesthetically unacceptable for me. If this proves to be the case, I will ask Teres to make sure that the arm board mount for my Teres is made larger so there will be no overhang. If they refuse, then it’s back to the Moerch DP-6.

>>I know people who spend shitloads of money on their analog rigs. I'm trying not to. In fact, the best "analog" purchase I made was my Supratek.<<

Right on! That’s one hell-of-a preamp by anyone’s standards! If I had it to do over again, I would buy the Supratek Cortese. But I own a Klyne System 7 line stage that certainly outperforms my Conrad-Johnson PV14L and my Proceed AVP-5. In fact, I have no criticisms of the Klyne so it’s difficult for me to justify taking a $2,000 loss by selling it to buy the Cortese.

Hey, if you like the DL103R, I say go with it. Don’t let anyone talk you out of it. I can certainly support you one that one.

Artar1, I am not a materials engineer and so cannot comment on your speculations about the various materials. What matters, of course, is the resulting sound quality, and I can vouch for the sound quality of the solid aluminum base in the ALU model. I have no doubt that the Galibier Quattro Supreme would be even better, but that was beyond my price limit. For what it's worth, the designer Thom Mackris says the the platter upgrade makes a much more significant improvement in sound quality than the upgraded base. I will be finding that out shortly when my new Teflon/aluminum platter arrives.

Dave

Salectric,

It's great to hear about your platter upgrade! Let us know how it sounds. I think we're all eager to hear.

Artar1