What about the Teres Turntable?

Okay, here's where I am so far. I am planning to go for the 2.75 inch thick acrylic, lead shot-filled platter with precision bearing first. Chris says they should be ready by the end of the month($990). Next, I want to go with the Cocobolo shot-filled base(unfinished, price TBA), then the DC motor kit with microcontroller($375). Finally, I am looking real hard at the Rauna Opus 3 Cantus linear tracking tonearm that I will have to order from Sweden as they have no US importer($415). This looks like a real cool arm design that is clean, simple and well thought out. I have looked at the Redpoint tables and IMO they are too ugly and they use the Teres bearing and motor anyway. I do not believe that their PVC platter will outperform the weighted acrylic Teres platter.The guys on the Asylum say that the Teres outperforms the JC Verdier and is comparable to tables in the $10k-$15k range. The Cantus tonearm looks like the unknown gem I was looking for. It was reviewed as giving performance comparable to any of the best linear tracking arms on the market. Only it is unknown in the US. The simplicity of the design is the strength of the design. I will be sending my check for the platter ASAP. I can only do 1 piece at a time, due to budget. But where else can you buy a world class table a piece at a time, so you can fit it into your money capabilities? This is really exciting. And Gumby, I don't have any records yet, and I sold my unbelieveable collection years ago. I had every Prestige Miles Davis album made on the original yellow/black label in primo condition. I had Blue Note Vol.1 and 2 in perfect shape. Kind of Blue on white label promo airplay only copy in new condition. Etc,Etc. I could kick myself for selling that stuff. Oh, well. I will update later when I get my first piece.

http://www.rauna.com/cantus.html Sure Chris,this is the link. It is a very simple design, but it looks to have all the right ideas. They claim it is as good as any linear arm made, as long as it is set up correctly. I have emailed them in Sweden twice and have gotten no response yet. They have no US dealers that I have found.

Jean, here's your answer, posted on the Vinyl Asylum.

Posted by hifidaddy (A) on November 02, 2001 at 06:44:27
In Reply to: Ohhhh, now I see *through* what all the Teres fuss is about! posted by marc g. on October 31, 2001 at 23:41:00:
Folks,
it is very likely that the Teres or Repoint is better than a VPI TNT or Basis or whatever. I compared the original standard Scheu (2 inch acrylic platter) to the Platine Verdier 4 years ago and then sold my Verdier. After ringing the bell on Joelist or Analogue Addicts List and so on Audio Advancement became importer of Scheu turntable to the USA and the Teres group was launched.
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Also Jean, there are other posts on the Vinyl Asylum that state the the Teres also bettered the VPI TNT MK4 and the guy sold his TNT and said he is a "very happy Teres owner". The Verdier is a fine turntable and you may prefer yours to the Teres, I don't know, but the fact that Teres is compared, sometimes favorably, to Verdier, TNT, Basis, puts it in the same league of these world class turntables.The difference is that regular people can now get that kind of world class performance for a much more affordable price. There is even a post in the Vinyl Asylum where a guy improved the sound of his Verdier by using a Teres motor and controller. There are several posts where Linn LP12 owners have sold their Linns and bought Teres and raved about what an improvement the Teres was. There was one post where a guy had a Verdier and he said he thought the Teres was very good but he still kept his Verdier. If you only had $2k to spend and you found out you could get the performance level of a $6k-12k table for $1350, what would you do? I know what I'm going to do.

Gumby, I have gotten everything now and have it set up and breaking in. The set-up is as follows: Teres Model 135 turntable(all acrylic), Origin Live Silver 250 Tonearm, Denon DL103 cartridge, MA Cotter MK2 Step-up Transformer, MFA Magus Hotrodded Tube Preamp, Berning MicroZOTL amp(NOS Tubes), Fostex based Single Driver Speakers.
I have listened for about a week now, and things are beginning to burn-in. The cartridge is particularly stiff and will need alot of time. I am tracking at 2.5 grams, with a very slight positive VTA. I re-strapped the Cotter to the correct 40 ohm loading for the DL103. Loading sounds correct. Pivot distance is set at 223mm. Cartridge alignment and overhang was set using the supplied OL protractor.
So far the sound can be described as dynamic. The bass floor is very solid and deep. Plenty of detail and dynamics throughout. Possibly somewhat analytical. Definitely has the unsuspended turntable sound. No problems with vibrations coming up from the floor, though. It's on a sturdy hardwood table with a half inch thick granite top, and standing on cocobolo cones.
The arm is outstanding. It handles everything well and very low coloration. Cable still breaking in.
The cartridge is very good sounding considering the stiffness and the early state of break in. Very smooth and detailed with excellent separation, imaging, tonal balance. Some slight mistracking is evident in the challenging passages, but should clear up as the suspension on the cantilever works in. I think this is an excellent value in cartridge, but a very difficult one to match with an arm. The arm must be able to handle tremendous energy from the super low compliance of 5 that this cartridge has. Very tough on the arm bearings. Forget unipivots with this one.
So, initially, I'm quite pleased. Nothing is perfect, but I feel that this shows signs of being a very high level performer at a reasonable price. I have about $2300 in it right now, not including the Cotter. We'll see how the break in goes. So far the biggest question mark is the cartridge, and it will take the longest to break in. If it doesn't pan out, I will try a Shelter 501 next. My system is pretty ruthless in revealing any shortcomings, so it really lets you know if you cut any corners. But, I will give the DL103 the 200 hours or so for break in that it requires. I will add more updates as I get the system further broken in.