Schroder sq and the new talea

I didn't go to the shootout while there. Simple reason. I knew that it would end up being inconclusive. Every arm has it's synergies and I know a few who are not fond of the A90. I also know a few who love it. Goes to show how important the system is. What would we know in a few hours in an unfamiliar system / room etc. What if the system is voiced away from neutral and you hear the Talea/ A90 balancing out a warm system w. extra detail (just a random example - I wouldn't know) I personally know how capable the Schroder is and how difficult it is to better. I have no idea about the Talea, but if I was marketing an arm, I would definitely go after Schroder's market to get my arm accepted. The only one with something to lose is the one on top. Those who haven't heard the Schroder perform well, I am sorry. Either it is not to your taste or you heard it in a poorly setup system. I have an idea about who, when & where you heard it but I would add the arm is not easy to setup and speaking with a few previous owners of Schroders, not all truly understand how to set it up (what a pain). You need to match the armwand to the cartridge. Since it has a magnetic bearing the armwand material is more critical for damping than in a gimbal arm.

All of my statements are generic. I am aware about the A90 variation. Heard it from quite a few users.

Jtinn,

I never mentioned who told who what. Got me confused on that.

I have never owned the Talea so I don't have anything good, bad or otherwise to say other than it looks cool. It might be an excellent arm but I am happy enough to not feel the need to look further for tonearms at this time. If someone wants to lend me one to try I have no problem comparing it. But it will take me time. Any of my comparisons take time. About a month to become familiar with the sound, setup variables, etc.

But honestly a show like RMAF to do a shootout of anything will be limited. The room, speakers etc. You know when you heard great or good sound. But to attribute bad or poor sound to anything is quite difficult. Almost the same speaker in 2 different rooms w. different electronics had huge differences. I didn't think the Artemis room to be special. But I have no familiarity with any of it to know better.

Dan_ed,

Your confidence amuses me. That is what I love about Audiogon. There is always something new blowing away the lastest and greatest w. the same old technology. What is even more amusing is how many of the same jump on board. I have already been down that road and seen that road repaved several times on this forum by the same dealers with a new song.

Goldereraguy,

Invitation is still open. My system sounds better than last year. Would you believe due to the change of a resistor on my RIAA stage. If you provide yourself, I will provide scotch & the like. We can do a shoot out depending on what is on hand. But in my case, lets do High Resolution files to Analogue. IMO high resolution is getting very close and the cost of entry is not that bad.

Ed,

Amazing. 10 steps in a row yesterday. She loves the music. She also knows how to turn on my preamp among other things. I have a feeling a little longer and I need to pack my turntable up. She loves Dad's toys. The best arm to have kept now gone is the Phantom. Removable armwand and all.

Vertigo,

I doubt any of the arms would be better than your Breuer w. Allaerts combination for what they do best. I owned that match and that is one of the great combinations. Only difference is I went up the Allaerts tree. But... the MC1b mk2 is great in its own right and the upgrade is not necessarily better and there are qualities of the MC1b that are better than the MC2 Finish.

In a nutshell, yes no best but there are great combinations out there. Not all needs to be equal to do a comparison. You just need to compare different great combinations. And yes a phono stage is part of the equation.

Vertigo,

TW arm w. MC2 Finish, and Schroeder SQ w. Titan i (but the setup is critical). These 2 are believe it or not close in sound (neither on the same arm will sound that close) and are what I consider fairly neutral.

I did love my Koetsu Jade w. an Ikeda but... it still remained a Koetsu both good and bad.

For me the MC1bmk2 is a superior alternative to Koetsu. All the magic with better dynamics. Nice amount of gain and build quality is very nice. I got off the cartridge merry go round years ago w. what I have listed above. There are only 1 or 2 cartridges that might interest me. The XV-1T and if Lyra replaces the Titan i.

Also the ZYX universe which is quiet now on Agon was a great cartridge in the Schroeder. It lacked some things but did things no others do. What was nice is having different cartridge/ arm combinations allowed you to compensate for different LPs where the recording or sound needed something different.

But do not sell what you have. Keep it. It is a winner. Maybe add a 2nd alternative, but trust me you will miss it. I know I miss quite a few of my previous cartridges.

Vertigo,

I have no experience w. a Lenco or any of the direct drive tables now in fashion. In that regard I will divert to you for how that will affect your overall sound.

But...funny to read your post above, you are almost spot on in your differentiation of the 2 combinations I currently own. More correct on the SQ/Titan i. That is why it is a great match. On point of interest if phono stage is critical in the characterization of the sound. In that regard, my phono stage matches well with both cartridges but probably better w. the Titan i which has more gain than the Allaerts which needs a ton of gain (.20mVolts).

But the Allaerts is more detailed than the Titan i w. a touch of silky smoothness. The highs are excellent with no brightness or glare. The Titan i is more full bodied in the SQ than the Allaerts at the expense of detail. The Titan i has a ton of energy and needs an arm that can handle the cartridge.

I need to move the cartridges between arms but the SQ is so difficult to setup that i don't want to fuss with it. I don't have much time to listen these days so the setup and changing cartridges has been on indefinite hold.

Your arm/cartridge combination is amazing. They are a perfect match for each other. Great for Jazz, Vocals and Chamber. Not bad for Rock & More but not able to handle the full range of dynamics of some of the other cartridges and a little less detail, with some softening of the bass.

As a final note, if what I just wrote sounds less than ideal, please understand that the "magic" you have will come at the expense of some things. You will miss it once it is gone. But it isn't for all music. Enjoy!!!