$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

TWL: Excellent discussion in your two posts above. Thank you.

I would just add reinforcement of your point relative to the AC versus DC motor conversation: in many cases, designers have made careful evaluations/selections for their specific turntable designs. Most of us are aware, for example, that Lloyd Walker and Harry Weisfeld both believe pretty strongly that they are each getting the best possible results for their turntables with AC motor designs. (In fact, Lloyd has been rather emphatic to me on that point relative to his experiments with both kinds of motors. He has concluded that he can better control the speed accuracy and stability of an AC motor and can overcome the cogging effect using a very low torque motor with a very high mass platter. Clearly a design choice.) And, the Teres designers have certainly found certain DC motor/controller combinations to best meet their design requirements (as discussed). These choices are not absolutes; when cost is removed from the equation, they are design synergy choices.

Again, thanks for your very thoughtful and thorough comments.
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Thanks guys, for your kind words regarding my discussion.

I guess that I'm "waxing philosophical" today!

:^)

Rushton, thanks, and I agree that both Lloyd and Harry are getting great results from their AC motor applications.

Harry once offered to ship me one of his new 300rpm motors tweaked to drive a Teres, just for an A/B. I promised him a fair review that would include some non-Teres-owning audio friends to insure balance.

Then VPI introduced the ScoutMaster and got swamped with orders from real customers. You know, the kind that send money.

I expect I fell right off Harry's back burner and behind the stove with the other dust bunnies. Too bad, it would have been instructive.

This is a really good thread, with a lot of detailed analysis and clearly reasoned opinions. Combine this with another current thread on VTA adjustment, and a nubie like me almost wishes he hadn't heard how much better analog sounds! Anyway, it's fun to read and learn....

Thanks for the valued insights, Tom. Based on your explanation it does make sense to me that the additional rotating mass can have a positive impact on bass response, which is what I have heard when I moved to a table with a much more massive platter. I suppose that in a similar fashion a more massive plinth has the same effect, being that it is more solidly "grounding" the arm and bearing so that the stylus has a better chance of translating all of the information in the groove.

I do understand your meaning in the quote from you that DougDeacon referenced. I think so many times we just engage in bench racing here on the forums, it is fun, but sometimes we loose touch with the reality that nothing is perfectly defined or modeled and certainly nothing is perfectly implemented. Perhaps I have an advantage in some small way because I don't fully understand what all of the tradeoffs are and how they impact the sound. Well advantage probably isn't the right word, ignorance is bliss is a better description of my current audio prowess. But I do love music and I get very excited each time I open a new door in this hobby. I just have to take a bite of the apple but it seems there could be a price to pay.