Raul, I have no aversion to auditioning a Final Tool, or any other turntable. I like to audition equipment, and can be pretty objective about it, regardless of what equipment that I currently own.
I'd audition a Final Tool in a heartbeat, as soon as I could find the opportunity. I don't feel threatened by any turntable, and if I liked it better than my Teres, I'd say so.
However, you might consider that there is a "Teres Fan Club" not just to promote the brand, but because these users really like the sonic performance for the money. Admittedly the prices have risen over the last couple of years, but I only paid just over $2k for my Teres. That was a bargain.
From a design perspective, the Final Tool has some interesting things going for it, but some things that I don't like from a design perspective too.
I like the "mass loaded unsuspended design and I like the separate motor unit, and the basic appearance is quite pleasing.
However, in my opinion, aluminum(damped or not) is a poor choice of materials for the platter, and also for the plinth and motor housing. Also, although I applaud their use of a "re-generator" for speed controlling the AC synchronous motor, I'm not generally in favor of AC synchronous motor systems on a turntable. The non-lubricated bearing seems interesting, but I'm a proponent of an oil-bath bearing for various reasons. Use of a felt mat, is an admission of poor platter resonance characteristics, and shows the manufacturer is aware of the problems of the use of aluminum in this application.
While nothing is perfect, and this Final Tool may be a very good sonic performer, there is reason to expect that the level of performance would reflect these inadequacies in the design. From a performance perspective, the massive precision oil-bath bearing used in the Teres would predict better results, as would the acrylic platter(admittedly not perfect, but better than aluminum), and the non-cogging DC motor with mylar tape drive is notably superior(borne out in testing) to the "string drive" system that has been obsoleted in the Teres line. The combination of string-drive with an AC motor can help with reducing the vibration transfer from the motor to the platter, but creates a "stretch-release, stretch-release" condition or "slip-catch, slip-catch" condition in conjuntion with a cogging AC synchronous motor. All AC motors cog. This affects speed stability, and is in no way comparable to a precision controlled non-cogging DC motor with a non-slip, non-stretch mylar belt configuration in the Teres. While wood may not be preferred by some as a plinth material, it is without question superior to aluminum, which is not even a good selection in the metal category for sonic performance. I understand this, because I work for a company which designs and builds metal products for audio vibration control use, and brass is so far and away superior to aluminum that it isn't even worth discussing aluminum in the same context.The movement toward the use of brass in the higher models of the Teres turntables shows that the designer understands the proper use of proper metals in audio designs.
Regarding the use of Cocobolo or Rosewood in the turntable for its resonance properties, Frank Schroeder seems to think that it works pretty well on his highly-regarded tonearms. And many others seem to agree. Wood does things differently than metals, while I generally also prefer metals, a good application of wood is better than a lesser application of metals.
The use of bronze/brass in the Final Tool bearing is a good use of materials there, and is in its favor for that part.
So, from a preliminary engineering viewpoint, there is no really good reason to suspect any superior performance from the Final Tool turntable, over the Teres designs, but there is good reason to suspect that the Teres design would show superior results over the Final Tool.
I would reserve final judgment, based on auditioning. But, from a design perspective, I wouldn't expect anything notably superior from that turntable. I will say that it looks like it could be a very good entry against many of the other brands that sell thru dealers(with markups) at that $2500 price point.
