Schroeder Reference Arm


Hi Folks:

The great Peter Lederman of Soundsmith uses this arm on his VPI HRX Turntable.

What was surprising about Peter's rig is that as much as I respect and like the HRX, I always find it's sound slightly clinical; however the addition of the Schroeder arm made the table sound slightly richer and less clinical while blowing my mind with it's dynamics and accuracy. Has anyone else noticed or tried this? I am experienced enough in this hobby to understand that the tonearm and cartridge provide voicing for the system but a tonearm swap on a turntable of this quality surprised me with the overall change it made. It goes without saying that I think the JMW tonearm series made by VPI are excellent.

Best:

D.H.
danhirsh
Hi all,

Thanks to Mike for stepping up (there I go with another pun ).

I defer to Frank, Joel, and Mike on cartridge selection. I completely trust Frank’s, Joel’s, and Mike’s assessment on the A-90.

I’d love to reduce the confusion by going to a single pair of “identical” cartridges that everyone is comfortable with.

I didn’t want to put pressure on Joel and Frank coming to an agreement on one cartridge, but this development will mean more time to listen and adjust in flight.

I also wanted to de-emphasize the nature of any kind of "shootout", and will (on Saturday evening) re-introduce my position on this before we start.

Not having to do a cartridge swap would really open up the possibilities, and we could listen to different phono stages as necessary. Show conditions are brutal, and you never know what will work until you’re there.

Note that Frank and I are arranging some off-hours time in the room, to get to know the system before the Saturday session. I want everyone to have the best opportunity to have a good presentation – in what are always, challenging conditions at best.

This first system exposure (for Frank) may not be on Thursday, as there’s too much system fine tuning to be done before the first day of the show. While Thursday night is possible, it’s not likely however. We'll have time.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
Hi Tawa, Frank ...

I frequent another audio list, and whenever one of us chirps up with an idea, the response is always “try it and report back to us”. I was tempted to make this comment in my initial post on the topic, but didn’t want to come off as being too snarky.

On the topic of shims and other interfaces for an aluminum headshell Model-2, I brought up the nylon washer on the Tri-Planar only to emphasize that even in this seemingly “harmless” position (between cartridge screw & top of headshell), the effect is dramatic, and not for the better in this particular instance.

A seemingly innocuous material interface had dramtic effects.

As you wrote (Frank), a washer in this position (between pivot bolt and headshell) would introduce some torque tolerance, but of course will not change the cartridge carrier to under side of headshell interface

Once you introduce something at the interface between the cartridge carrier and the under side of the headshell, I would expect the changes become even more dramatic.

I would definitely suggest your trying these combinations (Tawa). While you may not like anything you try, you’ll gain an appreciation for how tunable an analog front end is.

It’s about the journey and not the destination.

Enjoy the journey!

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
Hi Frank,

I wish this forum software allowed you to edit posts. I noticed another point that needed clarification.

Of course, the optimal torque (absolute value) for an aluminum headshell Model-2 will likely be different from the screw torque required for a wood headshell DPs/Reference.

My point was centered on the user without a fine torque wrench, and the end-user's perception/feel that with the aluminum headshell, the right torque (whatever its absolute value) is s more of a go/no-go sort of thing, than with the wooden headshells which compress.

Does this make sense? I don't want to put words in your mouth.

Cheers,
Thom
Thom, you are welcome.

i'd like to say i don't consider myself in league with Frank or Joel in judgement of cartridge performance. i also want to point out that i have not spoken to Joel about the use of the A90 for this process and cannot say that he will agree. i in no way speak for him and wanted to clarify that in case any inference might have been taken. his A90 is not yet fully broken in last i spoke to him.

i simply offer my A90 if it helps.
Thanks Mike for your offer to bring your A90 for Frank! Very nice of you.

I'm happy to settle on the A90 for this session, so I'll bring mine. If we indeed do a first set up before switching to the A90, I'll use Thom's VX-1S.

Cheers,
Joel