Hi Rwd
The Galibier and Schroeder would be an excellent combination. I've heard about the long waiting time, here in Singapore, the dealer said he had trouble getting any Schroeder arm, so I'm considered to be one of the lucky few. Some time ago, I had heard about the rave reviews and decided to see what all the excitment was all about and so became the first in Asia to get a Schroeder. I was on a budget so I went for their entry Model 2 and have never looked back since. I waited about 2-3 months, but that was then. Now, well your guess is as good as mine.
I did have the opportunity to listen to a friend's Reference and it is more resolving and "rounder", though I would not be describe the difference as night and day. System difference would of course make a direct comparison difficult. While at Thom's home, I did hear the Reference and TriP side-by-side. The TriP is as good as any bearing arm will get. The Reference though presented music more naturally, unforced.
I got a wicked idea: get the model 2 instead of those 2 arms and spend the difference on a Loricraft! Believe me, this in itself is a major upgrade.
Yes, I heard the previous top model with the above arms. The Scheu model 2 uses a string. I would not want to comment on what Doug heard having not heard it. However a wooden base would have a color of its own, it does not surprise therefore that a belt would help tighten the image. The main issue here is speed stability and I would reckon that the high mass of the platter would make up for any speed issues. I still strongly believe that the Mystic Mat made a bigger difference than all the exotic platters.
As to tightening/sharpening of images, I once was pulled towards that end of the spectrum. On hind sight, sharp/pin-point images are not natural/real, except in anachoic(sp?) chambers, but no one lives in one. Music should be live, live-sized, dynamic. It would be such a waste if music reproduced sounded precise, pin-point in an artificially small soundstage after spending that kind of money.
