Artemis/Schroder SA-1?


Does anyone know if the SA-1 turntable and TA-1 arm are still in production? There's little indication on the Artemis Labs website. No response to email sent to the distributor, Aydn, and no response to a phone number for Artemis that was listed in 5 year old review. Really just looking for a dealer (I'm in bay area) to give it a listen.

Thanks for any leads!
cjbaron
You might contact Frank Schroeder through HIS website, to find out about the Artemis. I agree with you that it appears/appeared to be an interesting design for many reasons.
Dear Notec, Don't leave me and the OP hanging. What noise issues? Surely if there were an issue of noise from the motor, it would be correctable and in fact quickly corrected.
Why would are you interesting in owning a component that you can't find let alone if you need to have it repaired....
Hi Lewm, yes, sent e-mail to Frank but haven't heard back yet. Maybe he's busy touring the states after RMAF?

Stringreen, you pose a vexing existential question. And yet how on earth will it need repair if I cannot find one to buy?

Such enigmas aside, Artemis was, and presumably still is in Simi Valley California, that is if they remain in business.
The high torque DC motor - is noisy when idle (nothing playing - from a ten foot listening position approximately).

It is still noticeable when playing low volume dynamics of music IMO and the deal breaker for me - even tho its sexy as all get out...
Notec, I don't doubt what you say, but that report is most surprising. What is there to make noise in a DC motor at idle? (Nothing, I think.) Is this hum you are talking about, audible over the speaker, or a mechanical noise? .
It's mechanical dude. From the motor herself.

I still want one tho. Hope it's made next from darker wood
It's mechanical dude. From the motor herself.
So noisy motors are female? Hope nobody tells Elizabeth.
Notec,
Is that "mechanical dude", as in Robocop, or "mechanical, dude", as in The Big Lebowski?

If the motor made that much noise and was not grossly "broken", the company will have discarded it in favor of some other motor that does not make noise. To do otherwise would be corporate suicide in the highly competitive tt marketplace. Also, there are numerous superb aftermarket DC tt motors available to anyone. So I think that all you need to worry about is the choice of wood and whether the turntable is still being made at all.
Frank S did get back to me (he is traveling in US after RMAF) and has relevant info regarding availability of the table. Any additional questions, really best to address directly to him via email.

Also heard from a dealer (when it rains it pours). He confirmed the noise, though he attributes it to the tape tensioning roller not the motor. He says it bothered him at first (certainly audible at close range), but he finds the musical performance of the table so compelling that he got past it. He says between the WT line at the low to mid price points and the SA-1 at the high, he got rid of the other tables he previously carried. So obviously he likes it. (I say this just so you have some idea about his analog preferences. They're aligned with mine, but ymmv.)
Now I find myself in sympathy with Notec. The capstan is the single truly unique feature of the turntable and highly desirable for its effect on belt creep. Any number of tape recorders use such devices and on any good RTR, they are silent. No reason to tolerate a noisy capstan, so far as I know.