Schröder Tonearm

Hey, are you celebrating bad behavior? we all know that Syntax has a very unique pattern of putting his essence into short comments or images. But as we might agree on his Schroeder assessment and maybe also on the Linn LP2 and, ahem, yes - maybe on some Koetsus ( here his preferred stoning of certain products starts to detoriate) he is definitely not on his home ground regarding the EMTs. Maybe a learning field, if this is possible?

I just read this thread.
So do you guys like the freakin' Schroeder tonearms, or what? (Notice I do not even try for the umlaut.)

Sad for me that Syntax must bash the Koetsu. I am carrying the flag for the Urushi and never heard any others.

Just another thought. I was present at the "shoot-out" between the Talea and the Schroeder, at the RMAF. So were some of you, I guess. We all know it was in no way a real comparison between two tonearms as there were too many other differences between the playback systems, including most of all the use of two different cartridges. I did not have a good seat, but what I heard were two systems that sounded "different" from each other, but neither was bad and each had its merits. However, the room was pre-loaded with nouveau Talea aficionados. After it was over, I was told by many of those, most of whom had better listening positions, that (in effect) I was a true Philistine if I did not appreciate immediately the obvious superiority of the Talea. This to me was a lesson in the power of the herd mentality, not to mention the placebo effect. The Schroeder tonearms used to have cult status and are now slowly yielding pride of place to new designs like the Talea and some others. This does not mean that the Schroeder tonearms have gotten "bad", if at some time one thought they were "good".

Lewm, I was there but missed the audition. No, not really like the Schroeder arms but it is more about the church behavior you just mentioned. The same happens now with the Schick arms, you need to wait for them far too long even if they are not overpriced as some others seem to be.

I think that your original question was regarding the Model 2 so I will stick to that topic....

Pithy answer: I have had my Model 2 for over 5 years now and I still love it! I would highly recommend it to anyone - especially to be used with a MC cartridge.

Prosaic answer: The Model 2 is definitely a big winner at its price point. Yes, it is not a "set & forget" type of tonearm the way some others are, especially if you reside in an area where the humidity varies greatly with the change of seasons.

The Model 2 is an excellent design but it has its limitations as it does not have the "fine adjust" features offered in the more expensive models.
So, if you need to be able to set VTA/SRA with a micrometer then the Model 2 is not going to give you that.
If you need to be able to set azimuth within a hundreth of an arc-second of rotation...then the Model 2 will not be able to do it.
If you need to set VTF in micrograms, then perhaps it is not a good choice.

HOWEVER....IF, just IF you are NOT into Audio status symbols (i.e. "mine is bigger than yours" or "mine costs more than yours") and what you REALLY want is to enjoy MUSIC then the Model 2 is an EXCELLENT choice!
Its few limitations are far outweighed by its superb design and hand-crafted construction.

The ONLY problem is getting one!

So...enough with tonearms that cost as much as vehicles.
Just like vehicles some are going to like one and some another. Just make sure everything else in the system is up to the task of a 5-figure cost tonearm and that the effective mass of ANY tonearm is in accordance with the compliance of the cartridge to be used.

BTW; The Turntable STAND is just as important as the tonearm/cartridge set-up. So I do not suggest spending "cubic money" on a tonearm while the turntable sits on effectively the equivalent of a card table!