New Teres Direct Drive Motor Available as Option


Hi Folks:
It looks like Teres is now offering a direct drive motor as an option on their regualar tables. As a Teres 255 owner I'm contemplating the upgrade. Has anyone tried the new motor on there existing/old Teres, and does it seem like the upgrade is worth it? Here's a link to the new product:
http://www.teresaudio.com/verus-motor.html

Cheers,
John.
128x128outlier

Wrt the Verus, I think "try it" means exactly that - try it in your system. Most of those interested are Teres owners for whom the Verus is available for a trial period and as an upgrade at a different price than a new motor only purchase. Whether on the inside of the platter or the outside of the platter, whether the friction comes from a mechanism or from gravity, the architecture seems basically the same, compared to, say, a belt drive.

Willster, I do agree one cannot fully appreciate the quality and value of Teres tables by looking at their website.

Tim
Dan_ed, thanks for your comments but you are not quite correct. I don't own a Teres but that doesn't mean I don't have any experience with their products. A close friend has been using their gear for years and I've listened numerous times. He decided to build his own plinth for his Teres and when he dis-assembled his setup he found that the platter bearing was already very worn and noisy and he replace it with something a local machinist came up with. The new bearing was much superior. This kind of begged the question as to whether Chris Brady's judgment was always infallible.

Your comment about Chris telling folks that he has something new worth listening to speaks directly to what I was getting at. Several on this thread have implied that they are considering buying this motor without doing what you just suggested, i.e. listening to it first.

Also, if I read between the lines, you seem to imply that perhaps I don't have experience with top notch gear. This is not the case. My reaction was more based on my original impression of the Teres gear being presented as a way to get top performance without paying supertable prices because of the diy aspect, yet Teres tables and parts just seem to be getting more and more expensive.

Of course, as always, you spend your own money anyway you see fit. What is it about a stand alone motor of this type that would cause it to cost over $1600? I've spent considerably more on many things in my system, but not without a listen first.
Concerning the 'Verus', any thoughts about what it's use will do to the finish, and more long term, the wood itself, of the platter?

I.e., a rim drive system engineered from the ground up would probably dictate a ring of another, more friction-tolerant material, built into the platter . Aluminum. Steel. PVC. Etc.
To be clear we have a no time limit full refund policy so trying out a Verus motor is a low risk proposition. We are encouraging Teres customers to keep their existing motor for a week or two so that they can do side by side comparisons.

The Verus motor came from our attempt to make our Certus direct drive technology available at a more reasonable price. After careful evaluation we decided that a lower cost direct drive implementation would be too compromised and didn't make sense. We think that the direct coupled topology is the next best option to direct drive and can be implemented for a fraction of the cost.

Wilster, we sell components to DIY'ers but we don't sell kits of any kind. So it's interesting that you consider Teres turntables to be DIY and therefor expect lower pricing. We are a manufacturer with overhead and expenses and are in business to make a profit. Because we sell direct we are able to operate with lower profit margins and can offer correspondingly lower prices. But this has nothing to do with DIY. The downside is that as you pointed out most buyers are not able hear our products before purchasing. So as a generalization buying direct saves the buyer money but at the same time the risk is a bit higher. There's no free lunch...

Chris
Willster, I think I see what you're getting at and your experience through your friend has obviously given you a perception of Teres which i think is in the minority of experiences here and in general. Which is not to say you're wrong at all I just wanted to make the comment (btw, I've never heard any Teres gear) that for some people, I'm thinking about myself here; the development by people like Chris Brady of motors and motor controllers is a real asset to TT playback. Not just for his tables but for 'upgrading' otherwise fine TT's, vintage included, where the motor & PS are perhaps a weakness or getting a bit long in the tooth and reliability may soon be an issue.
If the cartridge provides half the analog waveform and the TT pitch/timing the other half. Then if one can afford it and the improvement is valuable enough, $1600 is well worth it imho. Of course as you say an audition is best advised.
FWIW, I did consider/look at the Teres motor but decided instead to buy something else. I mention that only because the money is about the same which I didn't consider unreasonable.