Calling all analog experts

Albert, the stylus is *nude* to begin with!

"Other $1,500 tables might come closer of course, but I don't know any that would match it."

I understand, very few people have a KAB modded Technics SL-1200MKII. The day before I took my 1200 to Kevin for installing the outboard power supply I was at an antique steam & gas engine show in Blue Mountain, PA. There were all these single piston engines with massive flywheels and I started thinking about TTs. Hmmm, to get the belt drive TT spinning right one needs one--preferrably two flywheeels, just like VPI does. That's a good, albeit primitive solution. Just like modern, lighter and powerful gasoline engines which have inboard sensing/correction computers, the linear quartz lock drive can do an effective job w/out relying on massive amounts of lead and/or a flywheel. It just uses a flared platter to lower the center of gravity and add rotational velocity. There are two issues at stake here:

1) How do you take care of speed control issues as the stylus tracks transients (stylus drag).

2) How is speed kept constant while modulating a groove?

One lesson I've learned since having the outboard power supply is that in my TT I can get OUTSTANDING performance with the modded Stanton Groovemaster II. It is a moving magnet design and sounds better than my Ortofon X5 moving coil! Aren't moving coils supposed to be faster, more natural, etc? The answer is simple: the platter can drive the magnets & cantilever assembly rather effortlessly.

The more I look at the Teres the more I see it as a direct drive wannabe!

Errata: #2 refers to stylus drag.

Jsonic, you should be glad we've turned this discussion into a real, serious one looking at TT design parameters and constraints. If you search the archives you'll see it over and over--people just parroting away belt drive choices without any real technical considerations--especially in the lower price range, where *glass and particle board* TTs abound.

From this thread it is evident that there are two choices in your price range: Teres (belt drive) or the KAB modded Technics SL-1200MKII (quartz-locked direct drive). I chose the creature on steroids and am very glad I did. I am getting phenomenal performance on a real world budget--and will keep getting better as I do some more tweaks to the power delivery and have the tonearm rewired and new interconnects. I just love direct drives. They're for people who want to *play* records. Here's some input from the owner of Bear Labs, who owns a top of the line Denon DD:

You just discovered several of the the advantages of Direct Drive 'tables!

In order to make an informed choice you MUST listen to a high quality direct drive unit, be it a Technics, Denon, Micro Seiki, Goldmund, Rockport.

I can see you read Bear's thread. Good for you. What I'm understanding since having the outboard power supply installed less than two weeks ago is that transients do require significant torque delivered instantly in the case of a quartz locked DD or through inertia on a good belt drive. My modded Stanton Groovemaster has the midrange of a $1,500 moving coil. How can it happen in a moving magnet design that is comparably 'heavy' to move vs moving coils? Part of the answer has to do with magnet alignment and part of the answer is that my platter CAN move the magnets no sweat. If the same arm and cartidge were placed in, say a Rega P9 or a Linn Sondek the results would be substandard.

Here's more information. First, audio equipment is NOT an investment--that salesman is trying to grease you, Jsonic! Second, being aware of compromises, making educated choices and learning to live with them is a must. Let's use the example of the modded Groovemaster I use. Here's some info from KAB's website:

The unique 4 coil circuit performs a hum canceling operation and also aids in improving the channel separation. The low mass, incredibly short cantilever tracks demanding passages with ease.

Stanton's standard mount cartridges have the coil assembly mounted at right angles to the moving magnet. If we induce vertical and lateral vibration into the tonearm, this cartridge output shows a random phase pattern.
But with the inline design of the Groovemaster 2, vertical vibration induced into the tonearm produces a vertical signal, lateral vibration produces a lateral signal. This "phase alignment" tells me there is an advantage to the inline design. All things being equal, the GM2 delivers more realism and less distortion.

This is a nude cantilever design.
The cantilever is not protected in any way. You must decide that you can offer the respect that a nude stylus demands. They are easier to bump, hit and destroy. Keep all that in mind before you purchase it.

So, with my direct drive unit I am driving a moving magnet design wich, albeit heavier than a moving coil, it is really responsive, having a short cantilever whith less flexing. The fact that it is an integrated headshell design lowers the mass and improves trackability (this "DJ cartridge" has some serious bass). Now comes the real hard part. How much signal degradation I'm subjecting myself by going to a lower level signal? There's going to be more succeptibility to electrical line noise plus degradation of the signal as it travels from the cartridge leads to the phono preamp. Manipulation lower signals is also more challenging and the potential for increasing distortion increases. Not easy choices at all.

In my case I was using an Ortofon X5 high output moving coil (2.5 mV) at the time Kevin sent me a Beta release of the modded Groovemaster to try out. My Ortofon X5 is one of the *classics*, models that have been around for 20+ years. After the Groovemaster broke in I reallized it was better sounding than the Ortofon. It has the midrange of a $1,500 moving coil and so far is not the weak link in my analog setup. Last night I installed five Marigo green discs on the tonearm assembly and one under the Groovemaster and the improvement in clarity and dynamics was *really* good. One of my guys who modded his 1200 had told me to work on vibration control at the gimbal and the improvements would be substantial. I placed one of the discs at the top bearing housing, and three around the base of the gimbal. Things just keep getting better and better. I'm getting sound that reminds me of a friend's Monster Alpha cartridge...