Teres vs VPI, SME, Origin Live, etc.

Hello: For the past two weeks I have been listening to my new Teres 320 with Schroeder DPS arm and Shelter 501. This is the finest front end I have used. My previous tables have been Teres 255 with Tri-Planar, SOTA Cosmos Vacume with a Tri-Planar, Linn LP12, VPI Aries and JMW Arm, all with the same 501. The Teres tables have given me the most for my money. Not only do I find them stunning in appearnce but they have out performed by a significant margin my previous rigs. I have recently mounted a ZYX Airy 2 and have experienced another significant upgrade in sound. The Teres tables are rock solid performers. The Schroeder arm is very well made and takes some adjusting(as is expected). I did not compare the Schroeder to the Tri-Planar on the same table but I consider the Schroeder the finest I have used. If you are looking for top performance the 320 with a DPS ZYX will make you very happy. Regards....

All this talk about Schroeders is giving me an inferiority complex about my modded OL Silver! :^)

I second Mrmb's recommendation to put Galibier on the short list. I also have a Galibier ALU with Teflon/aluminum composite platter. The table is first class, and so is Thom.

Dave

I too have a Schroeder (Model 2). I agree this is a fantastic arm, especially so for the money). The DPS and Reference are better, but it not if you're on a budget. Mine is mounted on a Platine Verdier with an Allaerts MC1-B. The ZYX carts are fine pick ups. although I prefer my Allaerts, which is more difficult to get hold of.

Tom,
Those arms are really something. Frank has taken each engineering need and reduced it to its simplist solution. The craftsmanship, tolerances and attention to detail is second to none. These are lasting designs. The Tri-planar is no slouch though and "could" be a better match for some systems. Also, I suspect that cartridges that we didn't get to audition might pair up particularly well with one arm or another.

Several things struck me as particularly surprising. The biggest surprise being the difference between the 340 and the 360 Teres. I just didn't expect it to be that much. The term "huge" is often used to excess in these forums and I will refrain from using it here. Significant would be a better choice to describe the gains. Well worth the difference in cost. Even the wooden case drive motor improved the performance a fair amount. Knock me over with a feather.

At $10,000 the Lyra Olympos, single layer coil version cartridge was bettered by the Universe to these ears. What we listened to was the copper version of the Universe. Steve has the silver version and the conventional wisdom is that the copper is better for large orchestral and the silver is best for jazz, blues and rock. It's a shame we didn't bring Steve's for an overall shootout between these two.

The Schroeder No. 2 @ $2200 with a carbon fiber arm wand just has to be a best buy. It is worthy of hanging an Olympos or Universe on it. I watched closely the setup of these arms. Of course, those doing the adjustments were seasoned professionals but I didn't see anything that was difficult nor time consuming. Of particular note is that the Schroeder arms are proven a good match with suspended tables. In a previous session the Shelter 901 was a particularly good match with the Schroeder arms but since I wasn't in attendance at that event I will let Doug address just how good the match was.

If, like me, you consider the human ear to be the most accurate of measuring devices this was a very scientific testing procedure. I'll never forget it.