Teres vs VPI, SME, Origin Live, etc.

I'll let others comment on the table differences as I haven't had an opportunity to A/B what you are considering. I will say that the 265 Teres is very, very good, IMO. A good friend has this table with a system very similar to yours. He is using a Triplanar arm with a ZYX Universe Silver cartridge and it is a stellar performer.

I will say without any hesitation that the Illustrious is not in the same league with the Shroder. Not even close.

For reference I had the pleasure recently of direct A/B of the Teres 340 and 360 as well as all three Shroder arms, a Triplanar and a Graham 2.2. Identical cartridges were used for the evaluations. Both tables were made to accomodate two arms. This was a real once in a lifetime event and I would be surprised if anyone has A/B'd directly, in the same room at the same time any of these tables.

I haven't compared the hardware you mentioned, but you might put a Galibier Table on your short list.

I have a Galibier Quattro ALU with the Teflon Platter and a Tri-Planar Tonearm, and couldn’t be happier.

Galibier’s Thom Mackris’ help, suggestions, hand holding (this was the first table I set-up) were absolutly first class. http://www.galibierdesign.com/index.html

Dealing with Thom was simply a wonderful experience. While Thom is certainly a business owner, my experience suggests that his motives are not primarily monetarily driven; but driven by a desire to share the conclusions of his many hours of tweaking, along with his love of music reproduction with those of us found on forums like this. I know it sounds trite to suggest that he’s not in it for the money, but considering the many hours he spent with me, the manufacturing and machining costs associated with his 100lb. plus turntables, he’s obviously making some bucks, but working equal hours in the profession he’s educated, would I imagine, bring more monetary, but certainly less personal rewards.

In fact dealing with "cottage industry" folks like Thom of Galibier, Mick of Supratek (pre's & amp's), and a local fellow for cables, have been very rewarding, and special experiences. While the rest of my rig can’t be necessarily described as comprised of cottage industry components, my CAT amps, and Soundlab speakers are very close to being so –e.g., not much advertising, few periodical reviews, but oh, what marvelous equipment!

For reasonable prices (i.e., relative items with similar sonic attributes), and the service one receives, my experiences highly recommend taking this small or cottage industry path. Obviously, that’s not to say that the equipment found at the more mainstream company’s can’t compare, because I'm sure it can; however for me, knowing where my money is going, and being able to contact the designer – especially for a complex item like a turntable, has been a big positive.

Good luck on your hunt…..Mike

I urge you to consider a Scheu premier II table direct from Germany. A 9" arm version with 80mm platter can be had for under 2000 shipped methinks. The standard 50mm platter is maybe 200 less. It can be ordered in a single 12" arm configuration, 9", dual 9", or dual 9"/12". This one is hard to beat for the price and an extremely good and well built table. I have a SME 312 arm coming to mount on mine to replace a unipivot arm I don't much like; ie, just cannot stand the side to side rocking motions of unipivot arms.

I second Lugnut. I haven't heard an Illustrious but I owned a highly modded OL Silver. It couldn't hold a candle to a Schroeder, any Schroeder. I'd be embarassed to drag an OL arm into the same room with a Schroeder.

At the meet Lugnut attended the $2,400 Schroeder Two matched or beat a $3,900 Graham 2.2/IC-70. That was with a ZYX UNIverse on each arm, same table, same everything, we even tried two different preamps and some stepups.

There are no commercial reviews of a Teres because Teres doesn't sell via dealers, advertise in mags or provide free goodies to reviewers. We've discussed this a few times in the past. What they do is make well engineered tables and sell them directly to users for lower prices. There have been a few side by side comparisons described here and on VA. Not many, but a search should turn them up.

I also second Mrmb's endorsement of small, cottage industry manufacturers. You have to do your homework, the mainstream reviewers won't do it for you, but the value and performance often go far beyond what larger companies provide at given price points. If you can set up your own table, arm and cartridge then why not pay yourself the dealer's share? That's what you're doing in effect when you buy direct from Teres, Galibier, Scheu, etc.

Here's one plausible setup near your budget:
Teres 265 (Rosewood) $3,875
Teres VTA adaptor 200
Schroeder DPS 3,900
TOTAL $7,975 before discount

Teres may offer a package discount to put it near your budget. That would be a fine front end. You didn't say what cartridge(s) you'll be using, what kind of music you like or what kind of sound you're after. Knowing all that would help extend the discussion.