Schroeder Reference Arm

John Ellison over on VA invented a neat way to determine the actual resonant frequency of the tonearm+cartridge, by simply dropping the needle onto a disc whilst recording the sine wave that is thus generated using a computer program.

Lewm, the Feickert software does this as well. You should ask Mike for a copy of the graph I sent him, a PDF.

Brian

Thanks, Doug. It's clear from your treatise that one should not be bothered with vinyl. Like the bumble-bee, it cannot possibly "fly". (Kidding, of course.)

I thought you were going to tell us that Paul had picked out the sound of a strain gauge. To distinguish between MM and MI, now that is remarkable. I sometimes tell myself that MIs do sound "different", now that I have been playing with several of them.

Lew,

Please continue to bother. Many bumblebees do fly, just not those particular bumblebees!

The SG was not one of those two examples, obviously, though FWIW Paul actually did predict its specific sonic character before we heard it at RMAF 2008. It met those predictions fully. Even I could could hear it. ;-)

You'll be further thrilled to learn that our new "worst ever $8K cartridge" does not have a name beginning with a "K". ;-)

I may try to cobble together some list of cartridges with our sense of how much energy they leak. Fairly bogus and certainly IME only, but maybe useful to identify the most difficult to tame.

If you heard the Schroeder in the Soundsmith room, it was not with a low compliance, heavy cart that would typically be associated with putting a lot of energy back into the tonearm, or "leaking" to use an unfortunate term of Doug's. As for his partner Paul possessing extrasensory perception, being able to smell whether a record is Decca, RCA or L"Oiseau Lyre, having sonar like a bat so that he can navigate the aisles of audio shows blindfolded, and other super human attributes, I can say that (here is the disclaimer- I represent Schroeder arms) what you heard is simply the superior quality of Frank Schroeder's work. Which comes from 30 years of making arms, and his background in watchmaking. I've not yet heard the Talea, but how someone who never made an arm until last year, and has no technical background (I've heard the Talea is the result of the engineering department at Joel Durand's University getting involved) can suddenly make the best arm in the world is beyond me. Not saying it's impossible that a unipivot with no special innovations (and I do not consider on the fly azimuth adjustment an innovation, as it is certainly not something I would ever use) can hit a home run out of the park, but I remain skeptical. Durand's cheerleading friends and early adopters seem attracted to Schroeder threads (VA, OMA Forum) like flies to you know what, but the upcoming RMAF 2010 shootout between the Talea and a Schroeder Reference should settle the question.

Jonathan Weiss
Oswaldsmill Audio

Well,

I suppose it all comes down to different flavors for different guys because there has never been a best of anything. Still, there are flavors that the discerning listener can appreciate and differentiate.

For interested parties, note that OMA does not represent my Saskia turntable, and has not for a year. The reasons may be obvious to the casual reader.

The turntable remains on the website, however.

Win