Clearaudio v. Teres

Steve,

Cello's a bit backlogged with Katrina-related issues, so I'll answer for him if I may.

New ZYX prices are always shown in Mehran's (Sorasound's) A'gon ads. The current ad is here:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1129729261

He also has demo/review cartridges available from time to time. Give him a call or email if that's of interest. As posted by many here, Mehran is one of the nicest and most honorable men you will ever meet.

Compliance for all ZYXs is 12cu in the vertical mode, 15cu lateral. I normally recommend that people order their ZYX with the optional silver weight. An ET2 might not need it however. Do you know your arm's eff. mass in the lateral plane? If it's high (> 16g) like many other air bearing arms, you might not need the optional weight. The Airys weigh about 5g without the weight, 8-9g with it.

I'd be interested in hearing about how one of the top ZYX's performs on an ET2. The Airy 2, Airy 3 and UNIverse all easily outplayed a 901 on the three pivoting arms I've compared them on, so in general I concur with Cello's recommendation.

P.S. There's one more option on these cartridges: copper coils or silver (same price). Cello and I have A/B'd copper and silver coiled UNIverses in both our systems. On ZYX's top model, the copper coils are more neutral, the silver coils are rather warmish or smoothed. We both prefer the copper but fans of the traditional Koetsu sound would probably choose the silver.

I own neither a Teres nor a Schroder. Knowing what I know about the manufacturers and sonic character of the products accused of being hyped by certain members I would buy without hesitation a Teres 265 and a Schroder 2 If my circumstances were different. I say this even after Chris Brady and I got into it in another thread. Both of these products represent a huge cost to performance ratio. So, from a non-owner of either product AND having met both of the manufacturers, to my ears these are the highest performance analog pieces for the price that I've ever heard.

I really take exception to whoever said the Schroder arms are overpriced and that if a favorable review were to happen then sales volume would increase. Knowing what I know about manufacturing, which is substantial, this doesn't make much sense. Frank is already making as many arms as he can. How could this possibly be shrewd marketing? The current backlog of orders probably weighs heavily on his mind since he is acutely aware that whenever an order is placed that the customer would love to have it right now. Additionally, having such a product made by others would only add to the cost and quality would likely suffer.

I'm not trying to stir up a hornets nest here. Honestly. What I see out of both products are the simplest solutions to difficult engeneering problems. These solutions are manufactured to the highest standards humanly possible and still in reach of the average audiophile. Not that they are cheap but nothing in this hobby is cheap that performs this well.

Hi Dougdeacon,
Thank You for the reply and info. How's it going? Do you still have your Shelter 901? I checked out the ad and even with these discounts its still too high for me because I have to cool it on the expensive toys for awhile, while I finish upgrading my Carver Amazings Silvers (finished the total upgrade on the Counterpoint and it came out very nice). I got a good deal on my Shelter 901 from Japan, so I'm happy for now but if I get some extra bucks to spend I'll check one of these (Airy 2/Airy 3) out. The compliance of the cartridge if I'm correct is about the same as the Shelter 901 so it will be a good match for the ET2. I'm going to order a new motor pulley adapter so I can use the Mylar tape drive belt on my Teres, I have heard good things about this belt and I'm going to try it out.

Steve.

Hi Dougdeacon,
I'm sorry I forgot to ask if Cello is safe and well? I hope everything is alright?

Steve.

Hi Steve,
Cello and his family are safe and well. They are in the FL area where Katrina hit first. Home and business were both disrupted, but not damaged AFAIK.

Much scarier, they have a daughter attending Tulane. She got out fine and brought 3 friends home with her. They are staying with Cello and his family until things get sorted out. I'm sure Cello's open-hearted hospitality is a great relief to some very anxious parents.

I still have my 901, sitting in a box. If you check the reviews beneath my signature you'll see where we've gone since: Airy 2, Airy 3 and UNIverse.

ZYX compliance (12cu/15cu) is higher than a Shelter (9cu) and an unweighted ZYX is lighter too. That's why a ZYX on most tonearms needs the optional weight. It *may* not be needed on an ET2 however, as I mentioned above.

By all means switch to the mylar tape from the silk thread. I posted a comparison here a couple of years ago. The tape is much better at resisting stylus drag. CB shipped our 265 with both and we did not like the silk thread at all.

The mylar tape is more fiddly to live with (motor levelling and positioning are critical) and the tape must be handled with care. One crease or crinkle and it's useless. It's easy to DIY replacements though.

Regards,
Doug