Schroder sq and the new talea

I completely agree. The opinions I offer don't mean squat.

Dgad, I'm not sure if you were referring to the Talea or making a general statement. There were no gimbal bearing arms in the session. The Talea is a unipivot.

"But it will take me time." That is what I expected, but to date it hasn't taken anyone more than about 5 minutes. FWIW, YMMV, etc.

dealer disclaimer

If one looks just a second longer, one will see that the Talea's VTA tower is much different than the Triplanar. The Talea VTA tower itself is not round, but faceted which gives a much larger surface area for the pinch clamp. The clamp of the Talea is also very different from, and IMO superior to, the locking mechanism of the Triplanar. The Talea and Triplanar both have offset bearings, but the Triplanar uses a gimbal bearing and the Talea uses a pivot and jewel bearing. The Talea has a single arm wand from which the counter weights hang, the Triplanar has a stub that the weights hang from and a separate arm wand. The Talea's anti-skate mechanism is completely different from the moveable dog-leg of the Triplanar. Obviously, the Talea's AZ adjustment is patented and very different from the Triplanar.

But, yeah, other than all that, I guess they look like they have some similarities. :-) I own a Triplanar as well so I know how it sounds and I know how the Talea sounds.

The Talea bearing pivot, should it ever need replacement, can be replaced with a small allen wrench that is included in the kit. Lift out, drop in, snug up the set screw. The jewel cup is slightly more difficult, but can be pressed in and out by hand, assuming one has strong fingers. In any case, it is pretty much a field replacement. I've done it myself on a prototype model after Joel sent me an update to the bearing. And, the Telea bearing doesn't adjust itself as the stylus tracks across the grooves.

I still want to know how good that mammoth bone sounds. Did we gloss over that?!?

All I can say is that before I jumped into the higher end I did not own, nor did I listen to, any jazz or classical music. I have about 2000 records now and the fastest growing part of my stash is jazz and classical music. For me, high-end stereo has provided an exposure to and a source for this music beyond having to travel into the city. In short, I can listen more often to music that I haven't had major exposure to and that has expanded my enjoyment of music of all genres. The better my playback gets, the easier it is to hear and experience the inflection and nuance that the players use to interpret the scores. Yes, I have had those special moments while listening to a song on the radio or on the cdp in my truck. And they are special moments, but I have more of the special moments in my listening room as well. It is still the music that moves me, and high end audio allows me to hear even more of it.

Frankly, the best system I heard at RMAF was the one I turned on when I returned back home. ;-)

FWIW, IMO, etc.

Talea Manufacturer Policy regarding bearing swaps noted. :-)
Thanks, Joel. I apologize for mis-speaking.

HI Cus',

the XV-1s weighs 12.6 grams so your cart should work fine on the Talea.

Don't worry too much about tweaking and such in the beginning, just follow the manual. The Talea will allow your cartridge to sing right out of the box. As you get used to the features you'll be able to decide what to do.