Just another thought. I was present at the "shoot-out" between the Talea and the Schroeder, at the RMAF. So were some of you, I guess. We all know it was in no way a real comparison between two tonearms as there were too many other differences between the playback systems, including most of all the use of two different cartridges. I did not have a good seat, but what I heard were two systems that sounded "different" from each other, but neither was bad and each had its merits. However, the room was pre-loaded with nouveau Talea aficionados. After it was over, I was told by many of those, most of whom had better listening positions, that (in effect) I was a true Philistine if I did not appreciate immediately the obvious superiority of the Talea. This to me was a lesson in the power of the herd mentality, not to mention the placebo effect. The Schroeder tonearms used to have cult status and are now slowly yielding pride of place to new designs like the Talea and some others. This does not mean that the Schroeder tonearms have gotten "bad", if at some time one thought they were "good".
