Nottingham and Teres comparison

My recommendations would be that IF you decide to go with a Teres TT, then get one of the models with the wood base. I feel that is one of the most important aspects in improving the sound of this brand of TT, over the acrylic base 100 series. All the Teres models are good, but there is quite a large improvement in the wood base models, and I recommend starting there, and staying away from the acrylic base models, unless there is an extreme budget crunch, and you should even then plan to upgrade to the wood base ASAP.

4yanx, that was a very enlightening report of the comparisons of those tables you mentioned. I'm glad to hear of reports like this, because there is still not enough info going around about how the Teres fares against the other better quality tables out there. Thanks for reporting that.

Also, bearing in mind that the Nottingham tables are well known for providing excellent performance at the price, I feel that both they and the Teres have shown that they are in the "giant killer" category. I'd say as the Teres retails for about $1k less than the Hyperspace, it is still tops on my "high value" list. But you have to look at that Spacedeck at retail $1700 as a great deal too.

I just shows that excellent analog performance does not have to cost "an arm and a leg".

4yanx, how did you like that Illustrious tonearm and the 901 cartridge?

Some of the lower end Nottinghams have HDF platters, not wood. I have never heard of a real wood platter on a Nottingham. The new Teres 265 has a real wood platter made of Cocobolo wood laminated for stability, that is nearly three inches thick. I have not heard this platter yet, but it is claimed to be awesome.

Ted, a good improvement of the platter would be higher on the upgrade scale than a power conditioning upgrade. However, you do have to remember that the main bearing at the center of the TT is the most important part of the TT, and that is what will ultimately limit how far you can go with any given TT. What you may want to consider, is to get the Teres bearing and platter as a combination package. They make it available separately like that. The strobe pattern will already be printed on the bottom, so when you later decide to upgrade to the DC motor/controller, you can easily do it. This would really then make your TT a Teres with a different plinth. Or you could just buy the bearing separately and make a platter out of wood, yourself. The Teres main bearing is only a little over $200. That's cheap.

Alternatively, you could stick with an AC motor and use a Walker Motor Controller, which will condition/regenerate your power, control your speeds, and improve the sound to what you currently own.

Well Ted, I'm not certain about it. I do know that the general reason for using an inverted bearing is to improve the platter center-of-gravity, with respect to the way the side-thrust forces are resolved. However, the inverted bearing typically doesn't allow the use of an oil sump, which is preferred when possible. The Teres bearing uses a unique geometry which gives good center of gravity and the use of an oil sump, and was developed to improve upon the idea of the inverted bearing. Whether it is actually any better than the VPI HRX bearing, I don't know for sure.

I suggested it because Teres already has a wood platter system that would just drop-on with their bearing, making it an easy switch. Perhaps you can get your wood platter made by Pierre, and have what you want.