The Schroeder has arrived


My Schroeder Reference arrived over the holiday weekend. It has been a long wait but looks to be well worth it. The fit and finish on this tonearm is a work of art. The adjustments are actually very simple compared to many arms. Most adjustments are just a slight turn of a set screw. The arm sounds incredible. I have heard others say effortless. That seems pretty good to me as words really cannot describe how good this sounds in my system. I am still in the process of fine tuning and the wire is still breaking in so I guess it will probably sound even better. I am using a Shelter 901 on it and that seems to match up well. BTW, if anyone is looking to buy a Schroeder I would strongly suggest working with Thom at Galibier Design. He kept in contact with me throughout the lengthy waiting period and was excellent with the delivery and setup. I would though be interested to hear from any others that may have this tonearm and their thoughts on some of the cartridges that are a good match.
128x128dmailer
Hi Speedy,

Off topic .. I understand your competitive urge at the tennis club. Since I was never that good, competition was all about measuring personal improvement rather than climbing to the top of the ladder.

I was (and am) terribly hard on myself however ... at least this is what I'm told. These days, it's more about maintaining rather than getting better, and the focus is more on bicycle riding, rock climbing, and back country skiing (picture of me bouldering on Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder on my blog page if you're interested).

Yes, you're preaching to the choir as far as bass is concerned. A culture of MP-3's, THX home theater and boombox audio ... very sad, IMHO.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
Dear Thom: I never heard about Micro Seiki/PIlot pen.
Btw, I really like the LP on the MAX 282 and I agree with you about: " no perfect/build cartridge ".

I don't want to do a " controversial subject " about the " mechanical " sound of the MAX 282 against the Schroeder tonearm. My opinion is that under " some circunstances " that can be true ( I believe you ) but I think too that in different circunstances the " mechanical " sound can will comes from the Schroeder: nothing is absolute, all is relative.

Dmailer, I apologize for intrude on your thread. Sorry for that.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
Thom,I'm kind of sorry for my generic tennis/bass rant.It was nice of you to reply,though not necessary.I do realize that this thread/forum really should be about more specific topics,RE: your product line,as well as the Shroder(which I'm fascinated with).

Best of luck to all involved!!
Hi Speedy, Raul ...

I know what you mean about off-topic. OTOH, I've come to the opinion that these sorts of things help all of us get to know each other better.

One of the problems we face behind a keyboard is that we sometimes gain too much "courage" and hurt feelings ensue. Some of these off-topic bonding sessions can make the on-topic conversations more meaningful. It can help us triangulate on who the poster is and how to interpret their comments more meaningfully.

To Raul ... I may have come on too strongly, and for this I apologize. I absolutely consider the MX-282 to be one of the great tonearms. Ah ... if I could only make it jump through the azimuth hoop, but that's a whole other story.

People who have met me are shocked that I'm the same guy they see on their computer screen. The frequent comment is that this (sometimes) obnoxious, (mostly) nerdy, New Yorker type is such a Mister Mellow Dude in person. This was one reason I put up the blog page on the website. For better or worse, I figure people knowing more about me can't hurt.

This e-mail and forum stuff can get a bit impersonal at times, and any way we can bridge past this is a good thing.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

Cheers,
Thom
Hello Thom,

Thanks for all the information imparted in your post. You make an excellent point about the lack of azimuth adjustment.

Micro Seiki does make a J shaped arm without headshell to which one could add an azimuth adjustable headshell. Of course you now no longer have the rigidity of an integrated non-adjustable arm but it always seems to be about trade-offs. It might be an interesting experiment to do at some point.

Raul, any opinions on the sonic differences between the J and SC arms?

Thanks,
George