$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

I am very encouraged by the number and by the quality of posts being made here. It tells me there is a very genuine, and perhaps spreading, interest in all things vinyl. Just look at the number of very fine quality turntables and tonearms available today, maybe that’s a strong indication of an interest in vinyl that will not die despite the proliferation of the digital format. Turntables are even being used at my daughter’s high-school dances even though CDs still predominate there. Nevertheless, it shows that vinyl is here to stay and has a good chance of growing.

I have to run now. My daughter wants to go shopping and won’t let do anything else until we do. : > (

I guess that’s what I get for being indulgent!

Like Twl said, it's easy to demonstrate and I've done exactly what he described - though mostly by accident. I ordered my Teres, OL Silver and Shelter 901 all at the same time, but the cartridge showed up first. Being as impatient as any other little kid with a new toy, I mounted the 901 on my old low-fi/mid-fi rig, an HK/Rabco ST-8.

It would be difficult to imagine a less suitable rig for a 901 than that, though I think Artar 1's friend with the Koetsu Tiger Eye Platinum/Denon DP-500MX gets the prize for most absurd pairing. At any rate, the 901 sounded damned impressive compared to the ADC XLM MkII that it replaced, duh, but only when it was mounted on the Teres/OL did it really perform near its full capabilites. On the cheap rig I wasn't hearing more than 1/3 of what the cartridge was capable of. For the few weeks until the Teres arrived, I had paid $1500 to hear $500 worth of cartridge.

The table/arm/cartridge hierarchy should not be overdone of course. Once you get to about a $4K table (Teres 265), the diminishing returns curve really flattens out. At that point your next multi-thousand $ upgrade will buy the most improvement if spent on a top quality arm. Going from a $4K Teres to a $6K Teres will be audible of course, but less so than going from a $1K arm to a $3K one. As Twl advised above, it's important to maintain balance. "Table first" does not mean "table above all else".

Salectric
Thanks for the insight. It is most helpful. Because of my budget I would be getting the PVC platter but perhaps I could stretch. I am trying to buy a turntable that I will be happy with for a loooooooong time since I am looking at going back to school and don't foresee making any money for the audio hobby for the next six years. So I am trying to upgrade my system to something I could live with for awhile. Because of the large amount of vinyl I have (and still accumulating) the analog front end is paramount. Now I'm leaning more towards Galibier.......

Thanks for your kind words, Artar. I like the 10t's also, but they are power hogs and have pushed tube amplification out of consideration. It can be done, but not at price I can afford.

I completely agree with the fact that the turntable makes the biggest difference. I have experienced this recently when I purchased a turntable, tonearm and cartridge. Then an opportunity came along for me to move up the same turntable line so I simply moved the arm and cartridge to the new table. I was amazed at how much more detail and bass was being pulled from each LP with the same cartridge and arm. The dynamics just seemed to wake up. This is one reason why I am choosing to keep my current cartridge and I can completely understand why Jphii would chose to stay with his. A good table will allow what might be thought of as lesser arm and/or cartridge to perform at their very best, which may be quite good. I'm sure if I took my Vector/Benz and mounted them on my old MMF 7 I could be led to think that the Vector was not worth the money I spent.

Letch,
If you go with any Schroeder below the Reference, one advantage of a Teres would be CB's arm height adjuster. If optimizing SRA turns out to be important for you it's a much better solution than the set screw and sliding post method.

Some of Salectric's Galibier/Teres distinctions are worth a second look:

the Galibier accomodates 12" arms and it also allows two tonearms to be fitted easily,

A Teres accommodates 12" arms just as easily as a Galibier. Both brands have free-swivelling armboards. A two-armboard Teres is available, though it is a special order. Galibier does win that one.

I read a number of accounts of problems with the Teres motor controller, and I was skeptical of the whole servo control concept

I had a controller problem a few weeks after I received my Teres. CB overnighted a completely new motor/controller unit, which gave me the $100 Signature upgrade for free. I'm not personally aware of any controller problems since the Signature and Reference series came out last year. Even if Teres closed its doors tomorrow, the readily available schematics and parts list make it possible for any electronics technician to repair or even build a Teres controller from scratch. The benefit of self-regulating platter speed is obvious, DC motor speed creep will never be an issue. The music is always in the same key at the end of a side as it was at the beginning! ;-)

It seems that a Teres/Galibier decision must usually be made on aesthetics, budget and these relatively few features differences. No one who's heard both has said that either sounds clearly better than the other. Maybe Dan_Ed should add a Galibier to his Basis/Teres shootout. Go Dan go!