Teres 340, anyone heard / seen one in the flesh

A huge thank you to 'Cello' for sharing the opening weekend of his 345, oops, 340-2. Paul and I enjoyed five listening sessions with his amazing rig, usually in the company of 4-5 other audiophiles who were able to accept the invitation of our gracious host.

We were also pleased to have the chance to meet Chris Brady, who attended and set everything up. Sorry you couldn't make it Joe, but I adjusted my arm height many times in your honor! Kinda tough to do it on-the-fly after a few though.

Cello's 340-2, compared to my 265, offers a blacker background, more solid and stable imaging, and a notably lower noise floor. Paul and I agree that these particular differences are table related, not a function of other system differences. Pretty much as 'Cardiackid' described above. In short, the 340 is a smashingly good table. I haven't heard a Walker, Rockport, SME 30 or other reference caliber table, but if they're much better than this I'd finally be rendered speechless. (Maybe one of you should buy me one?)

We heard the following arms and cartridges, in nearly all possible combinations:
- Basis Vector (Cello's)
- Graham 2.2 (Cello's)
- Schroeder Reference (CB's)
- Shelter 901 (Cello's)
- Shelter 901 (mine, for quick A/B arm comparisons)
- Koetsu Urushi (CB's)
- Koetsu RSP (Cello's)

This isn't an arm/cartridge thread so I won't go into those differences here. Suffice it to say the the 340-2 made mounting and optimizing multiple arms about as easy as it can be, and clearly displayed the sonic character of each.

If you're interested in world class vinyl playback the Teres 340 is a must-hear, particularly considering its bargain basement price compared to the competitors. Contrary to the uninformed opinion expressed by at least one competitor, there is more to this table than just hunks of mass. Though it's invisible from the outside, CB has implemented purposefully selected materials and shapes in some intelligently chosen, non-obvious ways. His goal, shared with all top TT designers, was to reduce interfering resonances to the absolute minimum possible. To my ears he's succeeded to a remarkable degree.

While I am not a regular on this forum, I am a friend of Cello's and joined Doug, Paul, Chris and a few other warm hearted audio nuts at Cello's for the weekend to hear his georgeous sounding and looking 340-2.

Cello...I hope you are still cleaning those records....Remember, four times each side.....

I wanted to add my two cents worth here. Suffice it to say that Chris's 340 table is a world class product. He is also a world class guy and offers customer service as good as anyones.

Although I already own a great analog rig consisting of a Micro Seiki 1500 table with vacuum clamp, a Dynavector 507 arm and DRT-XV1 cartridge, if I was willing to allocate funds to a new table, this would be the one. Beside being the most gorgeous piece of audio equipment I've ever seen, (the pics do not do it justice), the table is very quiet and speed stable which enables it to sound very alive. It is in the realm of the best Micro tables in that regard and much more alive sounding than the VPI Mk 4 and Aries tables I've owned in the past.

A comparison between my analog and Cello's is impossible due to the differences in listening enviornments and components. However, I believe that one of the best ways to evaluate a table is to see if it can show up differences between arms and cartridges mounted on it. This table was remarkable in that respect. As our listening started, most of us, or at least some of us, thought that we would hear a much bigger difference between cartridges than arms. With two Shelter 901's on two different arms, the sound was so different. Very easy to hear...Preference was a different matter..However, it was very revealing in that respect.

While it sounded different with each rig we mounted on it, it sounded great with each of the combinations.

For any of you guys who are in the market for a table, I think that this one is a bargain at it's asking price. I haven't heard Chris's other tables, but feel confident that they are also bargains at their price points.

Thanks again for a great weekend, Cello.

Hi all
I was one of the privileged ones who got a chance to listen to
Larrys (courtesy Chris Brady) great TERES 340-2. This
is, by far, the most beautiful table I have seen. All the contours melded gracefully to create a rather compact image
for a rather big table. I have done a little bit of
wood-working in the past, so I now I am drawn to great
finishes-- and this is as good as it gets. By comparison
the finish on the wood of the Sonus Faber Extrema speakers in the system(centuries of Italian craftmenship from one of the most celebrated
towns ) was not close. I nominate it for a place
in the Museaum of Modern Art.

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT.
Speakers: Sonus Faber Extrema. Amp: some M.Levison.
Preamp: Supratek Cortese. Arms: Schroder Ref, Basis Vector,
Graham. Cartridges: KoetsuRSP,Urushi,Shelter 901.

THE SOUND.
Well, unfortunately we did not have another table on
hand to A/B. But the sound that sprang forth was gorgeous.
TONS of musicality.
Room-filing & expansive. Every record we tried was great. Every
type of music we tried (rock,pop,opera,country,orchestra)
was brilliantly presented. All the arm/cartridges we tried sounded
great but all sounded different. We were able to easily
pick apart the sound of the cartridges & arms used.

PRICE.
Well its not cheap in absolute terms. But in relative
terms compared to the big-boy competition (Verdier,Loricraft 501,
SME,Walker,Rockport), this is an ABSOLUTE steal. I already have
1 big-boy table so I wont be able to get a 340 any time soon
but I think I might get one in 2 years (hope price
does not jump on me). I just hope this table will be in production at the time I have the money ready for it.

CHRIS, THE MAN.
Chris is a great guy. He is very, very patient and
seems to be genuinely modest. After talkin to quite a few
inflated-ego audio designers, it was a great pleasure
to talk to a normal guy 1-on-1. I would have no
hesitation in buying from him.

Regards
Munna

Thank you all.

I have just sent in my deposit cheque.

Chris told me of the new Schroder DPS arm. This is identical? to the reference, but without the VTA adjustment or the counterweight. So guess what?, Chris has a VTA adjuster, and we can order the Reference counterweight.

You are in for a treat. Enjoy!