The Schroeder has arrived

Hi Speedy, Raul ...

I know what you mean about off-topic. OTOH, I've come to the opinion that these sorts of things help all of us get to know each other better.

One of the problems we face behind a keyboard is that we sometimes gain too much "courage" and hurt feelings ensue. Some of these off-topic bonding sessions can make the on-topic conversations more meaningful. It can help us triangulate on who the poster is and how to interpret their comments more meaningfully.

To Raul ... I may have come on too strongly, and for this I apologize. I absolutely consider the MX-282 to be one of the great tonearms. Ah ... if I could only make it jump through the azimuth hoop, but that's a whole other story.

People who have met me are shocked that I'm the same guy they see on their computer screen. The frequent comment is that this (sometimes) obnoxious, (mostly) nerdy, New Yorker type is such a Mister Mellow Dude in person. This was one reason I put up the blog page on the website. For better or worse, I figure people knowing more about me can't hurt.

This e-mail and forum stuff can get a bit impersonal at times, and any way we can bridge past this is a good thing.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

Cheers,
Thom

Hello Thom,

Thanks for all the information imparted in your post. You make an excellent point about the lack of azimuth adjustment.

Micro Seiki does make a J shaped arm without headshell to which one could add an azimuth adjustable headshell. Of course you now no longer have the rigidity of an integrated non-adjustable arm but it always seems to be about trade-offs. It might be an interesting experiment to do at some point.

Raul, any opinions on the sonic differences between the J and SC arms?

Thanks,
George

Thom,the Galibier pages,especially regarding the seemingly fascinating Schroeder Ref. was a fabulous read,to me.I thought the points made about the, "not necessarily an advantage",12.5 vs 9 inch arm length was quite interesting to ponder.

Also,and to me,an arm like a Schroeder,which seems to be infinitely adjustable,is a HUGE advantage(like that Frank?).I really don't get the concern of some hobbyists about it being so adjustable.I,myself,see that as allowing it to be fine tuned to my specific voicing tastes.

I guess there are some people who don't really get the most out of their stuff because they are afraid to familiarize themselves with it,and rely exclusively on the dealer to voice a system.However as time goes on,and we become more experienced it is a GOOD thing to go "Hands On" and learn to extract as much from our stuff as we can.It has helped me to get MUCH more from my own set-up!!I would have a field day with an arm like the Schroeder REF!!One question,there is mention of the variety of cartridges that would mate to a specific wood's mass, in the arm tube.I did not see what mass tube(12 gm Bacote vs 15 gm Jacaranda)would best mate with my 7.5 gm Transfiguration Temper-V.

My only criticism,of the comments,on the Galibier site are of the early review of the Schroeder Ref,where it is stated that this is NOT the reviewer's set-up,and then the reviewer goes on to comment on the "ARM'S" characteristics.The reviewer does mention the comments are in "broad strokes",but how does one really tell the personality of the arm,when it is someone else's set-up.Here,in this particular review,we are told that there had been an arm and cartridge change,recently.Maybe climate conditions changed,or vta,or sra,or almost anything which could have slightly re-voiced the sound,so these comments,although fascinating,are to be taken with a grain of salt.Heck a cable cleaning,alone, could have contributed to a better perception of "Dimensionality".

That being said,I DO DEFINITELY feel this arm MUST be really special!I'm not,in any way,trying to be antagonistic,and loved my 2 hour lunch break,while absorbing all this juicy stuff.It's good to be the boss!!

PS--I DID play tennis,later that day.Got my ass kicked too.TRUTH IS,I DIDN'T EVEN CARE!!!

Dear George: +++++ " Micro Seiki does make a J shaped arm without headshell to which one could add an azimuth adjustable headshell. " +++++

Very good point. Till to today I never try my J shaped arm and I don't have nothing to say against the SC arms. I have to do it.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Sirspeedy,
Recalling that you have a Graham arm my friend mentioned that another tuning feature is how tight you make the cap over the fluid resevoir. I don't have a Graham so this is about all I know.
Good luck,
George