What Cartridge & Armwand on your Schroder

Cmk,

Thanks. My wife bought it recently. Don't worry it is a Hamburg Steinway Model B (1981 in a lovely walnut case). She played 20-30 pianos before buying this one inc several Steinways, Fazioli, Bosendorfer, Bluthner etc.

Makes my hi-fe feel like good value!!

Best wishes,

Charlie

Hi Frank
Its always good to hear your insights about tonearm design. I hope your back is improving.

Topoxforddoc
I hope you are getting a Hamburg Steinway. Actually there are a lot of other excellent alternatives, including Sauter, C Bechstein, Grotrian, Bossendorffer CS. I play on a Sauter upright grand and love it.

I don't doubt you Dgad. However, my experience shows that the UNIverse, Airy 2, and Airy 3 perform better in tonearms with medium (10-18 gram) effective mass such as Tri-Planar, Vector 3, SME, etc.

I'm sure the Ikeda does a fine job but it is not the ideal match.

Good luck!!

AudioFeil International

In the Ikeda my resonance is between 9 & 10 Hz.

Frank,

Thank you. The IO-J is too much but the 47Labs-Miyabi is tempting. What does anyone know about the Airtight Cartridge?

I use an Allaerts MC1b on my original carbon Model 2; I am very happy with this and have other things to spend my money on (such as my wife's Steinway!).
The rest of my system is Platine Verdier, GT Audio Battery PSU for the PV, Tron Meteor tube pre (predecessor of new Tron Syren), Quad IIs and Avantgarde Duos.

Hello Dgad,
For your arm, ZYX and Dyna have been mentioned(use the aluminum cart mounting plate) and I would add the Audionote(Kondo)IO-J and the 47Labs-Myabi(not the regular one).
The earlier carbon fiber wand has it's own signature, a brighter character(more pronounced high frequency armwand resonances), quite to the liking of some who's system it might suit better than the less resonant("smoother") character of the wooden armwands.
It is more the treatment of the wooden armwands, not so much the type, that determines the sonic outcome. Damping unwanted armwand rsonances without dulling the sound is the goal.

Cheerio,

Frank

The Zyx weighs 5 grams, 9 grams with the silver base. In a tonearm with 35 gram effective mass, on paper this is a horrible mismatch putting the system's resonance under 8hZ. I've owned 3 Zyx cartridges and doubt that any of them would perform optimally in a 35 gram tonearm. As always, however, YMMV.

I tried the ZYX but it is happier in an arm of much higher mass (Ikeda w. 35 gms), the Shroder Grenadil is 18 gms. I am thinking of something to contrast the ZYX.

Hi

I will be trying a Miyabi 47 on a Schreoder DPS in the next week or so. Mine is a Jacaranda wand. I will let you know what I think. I know some Schroeder owners like the Dynavector XV-1s a lot, and another popular cart is the ZXY Universe.
They are all a little expensive but if you have a Schroeder Ref you a prepared to buy carts in this price range.

Paul

I've not tried changing arm wands, and I think most people haven't either. Mine is carbon fibre on a model 2. What I do notice is that carbon fibre is faster, more dynamic than the wood versions. The wood models are more organic and have a more flowing nature to the sound - something like single-ended amps.

Most carts would sound fantastic on the Schroeder, like letting the cart perform at its best.

I am giving it another shot. If a Kuzma airline gets so many answers why not a Schroder? I have a Grenadil armwand on mine. Not sure which cartridge to try next.