The Schroeder has arrived

Dmailer,
Congratulations! I've heard my Shelter 901 on a Ref (in Cello's system). It never sang on any arm like it sings on that one.

OTOH, the ZYX models Cello mentioned all outplay the 901 pretty easily. Flyingred is correct that the Airy 2's bass can be suspect in some systems and rooms. That is not an issue with the Airy 3 or (especially) the UNIverse however. The ZYX UNIverse/Schroeder Ref combo is the second best thing I've heard. The best ever was Frank's Lyra Olympus, but they don't make that any more. The UNIverse came so close to the Olympus that we had to go back and forth quite a few times to ascertain the differences.

Enough on cartridges. You've got one of the world's premier arms, which I'm sure you'll enjoy for life. It's a true work of art as well as the supreme expression of a great man's love for music and vinyl.

Doug

Gosh,

You're all making me blush, but I humbly accept the compliments. I can take the good with the bad. Those of you who want to see photos of Larry and his rig, can see it on my Owner's page:

http://www.galibierdesign.com/systems_larry_keatts.html

All that I can tell you about availability is that Frank shoots for 4 months, but has been dreadfully behind this year. He lost a month alone due to a repetitive strain injury. Frank is working back toward this 4 month goal, but I strongly suspect this won't be reached before the end of the year. My best guess is that the average wait time is holding at 5 months.

Larry had a requirement for a custom length arm cable, and Garth's (Incognito wire) move from the Continent to Canada threw a further monkey wrench into the scheduling of his arm. He was great about it, and I know it's not easy to wait after you've made such a commitment.

Because all Schroeder dealers have limited arm availability due to world-wide demand, it becomes difficult to hedge your bets and to pre-order. At the beginning of the year, I pre-order 40% of my annual tonearm allotment by ordering Model-2's with Pertinax arm wands along with extra (brass) cartridge carriers.

Of course, I need to leave the remaining 60% for the remaining yearly demand - for References and DPS's which are impossible to preconfigure due to the list of available options to choose from, as well as for any other Model-2's.

So, depending on the time of the year, a Model-2 can arrive at your door anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 months. If any Schroeder dealer promises you a 2 month wait however, I would query him as to exactly what this means. I've pondered the idea of pre-ordering a 9" Jacaranda arm wand Reference (this is ideal for 90% of my Schroeder customers), but as soon as I do, I know they'll fall out of fashion.

When we set up Larry's arm, I commented to him that the problem with good arms like Schroeders and Triplanars is that you think you're done, when you have achieved perhaps only an "80% setup". The arms are so good, that unless you fiddle a bit, you may never realize how good they really are.

I'm planning on producing a setup DVD by the end of the year to help people through not only Schroeder setups (although this will be the focus) but all tonearms. There are so few competent dealars extant, that this has become a necessity.

Choosing between Shroeders and fine gimbaled arms is indeed a matter of taste, and I would be the last person to tell you that a Triplanar is chopped liver. Of course, I sell them because I believe in them as being a very viable option. The Micro Seik MX-282 that Flyingred heard (with a DL 103R) is a stunning tonearm - in the league of the Triplnar and the Schroeder. While my listening biases lean toward the Schroeder, I could easily live with a Triplanar or my Micro forever. Different compromises.

One should not get the impression that because I devote less "real estate" on my website to Triplanars that they are not deserving of your attention. Quite the opposite is the case. The Schroeder section developed primarily due to all of the misinformation out there about the arms.

As I worked my way through all of this, and reviewed my understanding with Frank, the pages evolved to the extend they have. I'm proud to have what I consider to be the best organized Schroeder page on the web. I've compiled posts Frank has made on several forums and provided the links on my Schroeder FAQ's page. Frank addresses the issues of arm wand selection, cartridge compatibility, and other commonly asked questions.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

I really wanted to finish the last 90 pages of "The Da Vinci Code",that was given to me as a birthday gift.Now,with all this delicious new stuff to read through,I'll have to hold off on "Langdon's search for the HOLY GRAIL".Thanks!!

Hi Doug,

You can still get an Olympus. It takes is some leg work however, along with the requisite cost of entry.

You need to first locate a Lyra Parnassus with platinum magnets (not the Parnassus DCT). All you're after are the magnets. If you want to buy some time to listen to the Parnassus, then by all means it should be a working cartridge.

Lyra will then build an Olympus for you - recycling only the magnets. For reasons I don't understand, the Platinum magnets are unobtanium, but if you provide them, an Olympus can be yours.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Hello Flyingred, hi Raul,
As this might be of interest to you and other Schröder owners, I'd like to give a little advice on how to tighten up the bass and/or add bottom end "authority". I gladly agree that, if not perfectly adjusted("tweaked"), bass tightness and punch might not be up to the rest of the spectrum.
Try the following: Adjust the gap between the magnets until you've reached maximum topend "air" and extension without loosing the focus of individual instruments yet(no more than 0.5mm in my experience). Now tighten the counterweight grubscrew incrementally which will get you a tighter bass. Too tight and the midrange purity will suffer a tad. Now if you find the image too "tightfisted"(foreshortened decays), slightly reduce the torque on the screw that holds the headshell plate. This should result in a further improved rendition of the recording venue's accoustic.
Finally go back to the VTA and gap setting(smaller gap:tighter bass, less bloom). Make sure that for every change in the gap you alter the VTA setting accordingly.
The finetuning of the tracking force should follow lastly, but since the optimum setting is temperature dependent you might want to recheck every three months or so(to some extent true for all carts regardless of the arm in use).
In some cases(cartridges with little inherent cantilever suspension damping) the addition of a drop of silicon damping fluid(wiped off onto the bearing thread so it can "travel" down into the well) will yield a tighter bass. Too much silicon and the rendition of microdynamic differences will suffer(usually not recommended).
And a final note about the wiring. Those customers ordering the arm with the thin solid core wire should know( and I'm telling my dealers to relay that message) that it takes a long time(2-3months, 2hours playtime a day) for this wiring to break in. At first it will sound too thin! So give it a little time, once broken in, the bottom end will not sound undernourished, highs will be pure(not sweet as in sugary), then again, it's what you're hearing, not what I'm telling you to hear, that matters...

Have fun guys,

Frank