Schroeder Reference Arm

Hi everyone,
Wouldn't it be beneficial to quit speculating about the possible causes for sonic differences between tonearms or, more precisely tonearm/cartridge combinations(and ta/cart/table/phonostage combinations etc....) until we actually had an opportunity to compare two or, even better, more contenders under reasonably fair conditions? So I'm sticking with my original suggestion to get together at RMAF and allow interested parties to hear for themselves. I realize that, right after such a comparison session, some will come up with reasons for the results or debate the way it has been executed. Let me add a short story/my two cents, based on years of personal experience with individual, small or large listening panel based evaluations:
A little more than a week ago, I demoed the effects of various TT-drive systems(DD, with or without additional load, tape drive with two different power supplies) to a group of 15 "seasoned" audiophiles, including some industry members(speaker and amp designers) at the "Vienna Vibes" meeting . In the end most all of them heard the same things. But when it came to voting for their favorite, the outcome was 7 - 6 - 1 - 0. I'll spare you the "who liked what better", but what I found time and time again is that we all have individual preferences, pre-conceived notions and the current peer group that influence our decisions.
So pick what you like best, call crap by its name, but don't tell anyone that their preferences are any less valid than yours. The "best" exists only for the individual, not for everyone (think girl/boyfriend, wife/partner :-)

See you all in Denver,

Frank

With all due respect, Frank. I don't see "speculation" in posts from those who have experience with your arm and the Talea. Jonathan, on the other hand, has consistently chosen to go beyond his own speculation and resort to sarcastic attacks on anyone who voices an opinion contrary to his own. I really don't believe a fair and honest opinion is within his capabilities.

My comments and opinions are strictly my own and do not reflect the opinions of Durand Tonearms, Galibier Design, Doug and Paul, Jazdoc, Dmailer, or anyone else.

Dan_ed that was well said. I spend over 5 years with the Schroeder and the last 6 weeks with the Talea during this time there have been no other changes in my system. I must say that I am not speculating with my observations as I have spent considerable time with both arms. The Schroeder is a great arm and I am not trying to disparage it in any way. It is just that I found that for my tastes in my system that the Talea provided more dynamics and detail than I was getting without sacrificing the great midrange that I love about the Schroeder. Of course Frank was never here to set it up for me and maybe he can get the dynamics and detail that I never could. Of course another person with a different system and tastes may prefer the Schroeder to the Talea. I look forward to comparisons at RMAF. I think Thom is the lucky one among us as he gets to play with all these arms.

Hi Lew,

The Schroeder Reference, Model Two and DPS are still made by hand by Frank Schroeder in Berlin. OMA sells all of these arms, and can demo them to interested parties at our new OMA Showroom in Manhattan (Soho) or at Oswaldsmill in Eastern Pennsylvania. We also will have the first of the new long version of the TA-1 Schroeder arm, made to Frank's specs and designed by Frank, but built by Artemis in California. It uses a completely different bearing than the magnet and string system of the aforementioned arms.

Dan, you can hear the OMA AC-2 loudspeaker which uses the Cogent DS1428 field coil compression driver at our Soho showroom. You will be able to hear the new Imperia four way horn system at our soon to be open Dumbo, Brooklyn Showroom. We don't rep Cogent drivers any longer, as you can see from our website, but DO use them in our speaker designs. We found that DIY interest in drivers which cost as much as Cogent was very small. People want a complete system with such drivers, as very few people in the world have the ability to put together such a system themselves. You can also come visit Oswaldsmill, or perhaps you would have difficulty finding us, as you are looking for OswaldsBarn Audio?

Jonathan Weiss
OMA