Is the Teres a

What do you mean by "official one", George?

Thank you for your reply, Larry. And Chris, and Doug and Joe.

I don't doubt it when you say the Teres tables are exceptional. What I'm saying is that it would be great for the everyday guy (who's part audiophile, part insecure audio geek and part know-it-all) to read about his gear, in this instance, a turntable, on the pages of Stereophile. Equally good, too, for the designer to have his name and product printed in black and white and read around the world.

True, the magazine has its critics and many have questioned its credibility as well as its personnel. But the fact remains it is the only mass-circulated magazine around and many use it as the bible to guide them what to purchase in audio components. Even Chris thinks it's cool if his tables were reviewed and raved about in Stereophile. Who wouldn't - really?

The article caught my eye because the Quattro Supreme is supposed to have taken the basic Teres to another level. Its price range confirms where the table is trying to reach: $6,000.00. So a comparative table would be the Teres 340 - if one were to compare.

Then I asked: if a table that's similar to the Teres and is similarly priced, would the 340 get a "B" ranking because of their sameness?

One more thing, both the Supreme and Teres 340 share the same philosophy: no suspension, mass based. The Supreme's platter weighs 75lbs (!) against the 37 lbs for the 340.

Is this the way to go? As heavy as it should be to be a good turntable?

Cheers,
George

What do you mean by "official one", George?
Dan_ed

Hi Dan,

Joe's table is home-made, isn't it? I was wondering if it sounds like Chris's.

Regards,
George

Thanks for the clarification, George. I'm curious about this point also since I am in the planning stages of doing my own Teres. (I'm not quite ready to start ordering parts, maybe in October. I need to finish building my stereo rack first.) I do know based on Joe's posts that he is very happy with the results he has gotten.

I see by your system listing that you have a Basis 2000. I have a 2001 and plan on keeping it even after I add a Teres-based turntable to my system. Right now I like the idea of playing with the suspended vs. non-suspended concepts and hearing for myself what the differences are. It would be much harder for me to do this if it weren't for the DIY concept of the Teres.

Here's my .02:
I understand why you are looking for a mag write up or shootout, but I don't think that one would really answer your questions because you would still be relying on someone else's opinions. Reviews might help you narrow the field but I would stop short of using them to argue the validity of any tables' superiority. The only real way is a side-by-side comparison. As we all know you would still probably not get a consensus on which is the better table.

Doug, Joe, Larry, Thanks for the kind words. It's certainly a nicer and more honest ego boost than any review from some mag. Teres Audio is a for profit business, but my primary motivator for running the business is rewarding interactions with customers like you guys.

George, Yes the Quattro takes what came out of the Teres project to another level. But so does the Teres 150, 160,245, 265, 320 and 340. All of these tables are vastly different from the original Teres project incarnation. But it is incorrect to assume that the Supreme and a 340 sound similar or that they would get the same rating. You point out that both are suspensionless and high mass. Of course all turntables that share those characteristics will have some similarities. However, the material differences (hardwood vs. aluminum) have a huge impact on sound. I know what these materials sound like. An aluminum turntable simply will not sound anything like one made from hardwoods.

It interesting to note that in recent comparisons between a Teres 340 and a 320 the contribution of the aluminum rings and feet in the 340 can be heard. As a result we are evaluating a 340 where brass has been substituted for all of the aluminum parts (not to mention a new 60 lb. platter). If all goes well it will be shown at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.

BTW: the Quatro Supreme platter weighs 32 pounds. The base is 75 lbs (vs 95 for the 340).

Chris