Upgrade from TW Acustic Raven AC-3 to what?

As I understood you are finished with billiard playing, so let´s spend one more thought on audiophile opinions.

A good definition is: The difference between fact and opinion is that a fact is something that is empirically true and can be supported by evidence while an opinion is a belief that may or may not be backed up with some type of evidence. An opinion is normally a subjective statement that can be the result of an individual interpretation of a fact.

I hope we agree that we discuss more or less on the bases of opinions and not all the time on facts?

Assessing the quality of TTs we may judge on some performance data, the kind of technology which is used, the acceptance of the audiophile forum (we all), the activities of the sales forces behind the product, maybe pricing as well (?) etc. In the end we select favorites which mirror the momentary level of our systems. In this stage our opinion about the brand and the type of TT is formed.

To assess audiophile opinions we have to have a close look at the experience of the opinion makers, maybe at their systems and at the quality of their recommendations. This is the kind of erratic approach we are following usually in this wonderful journey. But in some way it is following an interative path of experiences - with positive results.

When it comes to listening I do think that maybe 99,5% among us feel like an audiophile expert being able assessing TTs. Of course we hear the difference of TTs, tonearms and cartridges. We go to fairs, we visit friends with good systems, sometimes we are invited by manufactures to assess prototypes etc. In the end we usually end up defending our grounds more or less stating so called facts (which are sometimes opinions). That´s the difficult side of opinions.

Thuchan, you are so right. In the end all of us, except for Dertonearm who was in the business of turntable R&D, have opinions based on very narrow experience. That's possibly why it is of interest to consider the physical principles involved in the playing of an LP. Maybe science would take us closer to the highest form of the art. Anyway, it's fun.

DT, Yes, the energy must be conserved according to Newtonian Mechanics, but I believe it is dissipated as or converted to heat, as the cue ball rolls across the felt surface. The two masses (ball and table) are passive actors in this process; the bigger mass of the heavier slate would if anything more readily dissipate the energy in the ball than would a smaller mass of slate, or so it seems to me. I don't mean to preach; this is just me thinking out loud. I am waiting for my physics professor to correct me.

Lewm, well - pretty fruitless to discuss a long proven physical fact (which the longer running distance on the thicker slate plate billiard table is) or at least it direct (objective !) technical result - isn't it?
Well Thuchan - in fact we are not finished with billiard playing ( and to me it sounds more and more that we never will...) - but I am leaving the table now for good.
Cheers,
D.

Lewm, Dertonarm: You may continue billiard playing. I did`nt want stopping you. Maybe next year when we are facing new tables...

Getting back to the original question posed, why don't you try the new Basis Inspiration TT? It's their finest TT and it looks like a spectacular TT. Basis products have a great reputation for wonderful music reproduction.

On the other hand, have you tried more arm and cartridge combinations? You could even do this with adding a Graham Phantom MKII to the TW-Acustic with a couple of arm wands. Any high end analog dealer in your area should let you try out some of their demo cartridges over week ends. I know that Bryan at Analog Room San Jose, CA lets his high end customers do home demos. Maybe that's a way to get the sound you want without spending another $50K. After-all, you do have one of the very best TT's in the world.

If not that, then go the Walker route.

Good Luck!