Teres vs VPI, SME, Origin Live, etc.

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.

"There are no commercial reviews of a Teres because Teres doesn't sell via dealers, advertise in mags or provide free goodies to reviewers. "

Calling Teres: comments? Have there been requests for products to review, be it hardcopy or online? What sorts of "strings" exactly are the requesters imposing?

Not to go off subject but it's Schröder.

Lugut nailed it again in his latest post. I heard exactly what he described. Change the case on an outboard motor. Hear a difference. Who knew? That was astonishing.

The Schroeder Model Two is indeed an absolute bargain at its price point. Glorious sound, no significant flaws. Just less resolution than a DPS or Reference, stuff you may never miss unless you hear it.

I don't know if the UNIverse beat the Olympus, but it certainly matched it. The ZYX has two advantages over the Lyra: it's $5,000 cheaper and they're still making it! I've been calling the UNIverse a "bargain". Seems obscene but this was one more bit of evidence that it truly is.

As Lugnut mentioned, cartridge/arm synergy is vital. With UNIverses on the TriPlanar VII and Schroeder Reference we had to A/B the same track 5 or 6 times before anyone would say a word. They were that close. This didn't happen with any other comparisons we made, 30 seconds was often enough. Changing the turntable's motor case was more significant. Changing from a steel/cocobolo clamp to a brass/cocobolo clamp was more significant. This was nearly a dead heat.

To my ears and Paul's the TriPlanar/UNIverse had crisper attacks. The Reference/UNIverse had slightly richer and more extended harmonic trails. That was about it.

Put a Shelter 901 on these two arms and everything changes. The superior resonance control of the Schroeder comes into its own to tame that overly excitable cartridge. The superiority of the Schroeder over the TriPlanar with that cartridge is immediately obvious to all.

The TriPlanar VII is not a bright arm, but neither will it conceal a bright or overly-energetic cartridge. It's a superb match for the three ZYX's we've tried, but less well-damped cartridges may not suit it so well. The Schroeder Reference damps spurious resonances better, maybe better than any arm. That leads me to suspect it would give world class performance with any (reasonable) cartridge. That's one reason I believe it's the world's best pivoting arm.