$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Hi Artar. Welcome back to the thread and congrats on your top notch purchase - ya done well! Did you start & finish with this combination? What cartridge did you choose?

Oakiris, I own a Teres 160, modded OL Silver with a 103r & TWL is spot on with his recommendation. If you're ok with a used OL Silver, you could place a want ad & save about $300 off list price. Try to find an OL Silver MkI because it's easier to mod than the MkII. Have you thought about a phono stage for a 103r yet? I hear an EAR 834 is very good for the price & you can find these used on the gon for about $750+. I have used a Tom Evans - Microgroove setup at .2mV & 1000 ohms that was ok for the cost. You can find one of these for about $500 used on the gon; one is currently listed .2mV & 100 ohms which could be a better fit then 1000 ohms for the 103r.

Good Luck

Dsiggia - I'm looking forward to the time - hopefully this month - when I can actually begin buying the equipment on my wish list! I'm still toying with the idea of getting the ZYX R100H cartridge, too, but know I should be practical and get the Denon cartridge instead.

I am indeed looking for a phono stage for my system. I have considered the EAR 834, as well as a Cary, the K & K kit (but I don't think I have the skills to build it :-( ) and various others, but haven't made a decision as yet. I seem to prefer the tube sound - wish they weren't so expensive! I certainly don't mind buying used from a trusted Audiogon seller. I'll have to see what is available when I actually have the $$$ in hand!

And then there are the IC cables I need. And no rich uncles to be had in my family!

"I visited Chris at Teres Audio yesterday and I have actually decided on the Teres 160 turntable with an Origin Live Silver tonearm. Not sure about the cartridge yet - I may have to get "cheap & cheerful" until I can afford something better. We'll see!"

Congratulations, Brilliant choices, you will never look back at these two choices. Dollar for dollar these 2 are very hard to beat, IMHO.

yes as twl says the 103 will work great with the OL arm, but why not wait a little longer till you can afford the 501 and get the 501, because based on your outstanding judgement you will eventually get one anyway, and in the end save some cash and not look back.
good luck
Ron

Hey Chris!

Happy New Year!

So, how’s it going? Was “Santa” good to you this year?

I’m sorry you passed out from holding your breath waiting for my analog pronouncements. (You know the Technics direct drive turntable is one hot ticket, if you don’t mind acoustic feedback and a rather mechanical sound, especially to massed strings!)

Well, I hope your Grand Prix rack is coming through for you. It’s out of my league, but most of high-end audio is out of my league.

Are you sure you want to sell your Pass Labs X1? It’s a good preamp and you would be hard pressed to buy something as good, at least as solid-state devices go. The X1 acts as a buffer of sorts, making it possible for you to use long interconnects between the preamp and amp, if the need should ever arise. Also I like the dynamics that a good preamp can give you as well as excellent soundstaging. However, driving your amp directly from a CD player should give you the best transparency and detail. But your Pass X1 is, as you have said, a very neutral performer. Perhaps you can wait to up grade your CD player until after buying your turntable and tonearm?

The Schroeder Model 2 and a Galibier should make a very good combination. Which Galibier do you plan to buy and when will you purchase the combination? Keep us posted. It will be nice to know your impressions of both the Galibier and Teres.

As for Thomas Scheu, there’s some speculation that he committed suicide by gunshot, but I have not read any corroborating evidence. If true, that would be very sad indeed. Other than this bit of news, I have no other information about his untimely death, a tragedy for sure.

I picked up some records too over the holidays. I found a 15-alumn set of Mozart’s 41 symphonies conducted by Karl Bohm and played by the Berlin Philharmonic. All LPs are absolutely mint; they look as if they have never been played. What a find for me. With shipping, it cost me about $90.

And yes, I have been listening to music, CDs to be exact, but that’s not the reason for my absence! I’m back now, a little refreshed by my short vacation. So watch out now…: > )

Holly (Oakiris),

Don’t worry about misspelling my name. I am the world’s worst speller so it does not offend me in the least when I see others trip up now and again.

If you want analog advice, TWL knows the most of anyone in this thread. But I can give you my opinions for what it’s worth.

As for a phono cartridge, I purchased a Shure V15VxMR as my starter unit. From there I will go with either a Benz Micro L2 or a Shelter 501. If I choose the Shelter, I will have to purchase another Morch arm wand, maybe a Blue Dot, which has an effective mass of 14 grams.

As a side note, I am still waiting for my turntable and tonearm, which I ordered about a month ago. I hope it arrives soon.

I congratulate you on your Teres 160 purchase with the Origin Live Silver tonearm. While I would be a little hesitant to describe this setup as cheap, it’s certainly cheerful, as it were. The only improvement would be to move up to an Origin Live Encounter or a Morch DP-6, but such a move would only give you a very small gain indeed.

I agree with TWL about the Denon recommendation. A lot of people have the cartridge and love it. The Shelter is reported to be a little better according to TWL, but at a much higher price. The Denon will certainly get you admitted to analog heaven, at least onto the second of third rung of Jacob’s Ladder. And when TWL tells you he’s been around the block and is not blowing smoke, you can take those comments to the bank.

If you would like more information about the ZYX cartridge, contact Dougdeacon. He is a proponent of that cartridge and can tell you all about its strengths and weaknesses, if any. It’s a very neutral cartridge from what I have heard when compared to something like the Denon. The ZYX is also great with classical music, but again, Doug can tell you a lot more.

For a small fee, you can buy the K&K kit pre-built so you don’t have to fool around with soldering, and the like. The EAR is also a nice unit, but many who buy that phono stage get it upgraded. The good news about the upgrade is that it doesn’t void the warranty! Another popular tubed phono stage is from Wright Sound Company.

For interconnects you might try Element Cables or VA Audio.

Dsiggia,

I will say more about my buying process a little later. Right now I am getting caught up with replies. I can say this that I was all over the map in regards to making my final decision. There are too many choices nowadays, which only makes choosing more difficult rather than easier.

As I said above, the cartridge I chose was the Shure V15. From there I will either go with the Shelter 501 or the Benz Micro L2. I haven’t made up my mind yet. The Shure will then become a backup cartridge.

I’ve noticed that you have updated you system since we last talked. I now see a Supartek Cortese gracing your audio rack, you devil! How do you like it? Wow, it must be really awesome! Tell us about your new purchase so we can all be envious.

Artar - Thank you for your comments about my future purchases! I have spoken (via email!) with Doug about the ZYX cartridges; he has also recommended the Denon 103R. And now I seem to have added the Shelter 501 into the mix! I will make up my mind at some point. I think I will probably stick with the Denon cartridge as it seems to be very well respected and liked by many, and I will be able to upgrade next year, or....Plus I can spend more on the rest of the set up. As far as "cheap & cheerful" goes, I wasn't referring to the Teres turntable. It alone takes up most of my original budget, but my original budget flew out the window several weeks ago! :-~

The OL Encounter tonearm is way more than I can spend; I will stay with the OL Silver (hopefully the earlier version so I can apply Twl's HiFi tweak.) As far as the phono stage goes, I have looked into the Wright products and I am impressed by them. I like the Cary's, too, but they seem to be a lot more expensive. I'm still keeping an eye out for used phono stages, too. Well, however I go, I need to make sure they will work with MC cartridges, as that seems to be the way I am headed, so I'll have to get a step-up transformer, too.

What are the "VA Cables?" Sorry - I did a google search and couldn't find these. Does any one use and like the Homegrown Audio cables? HGA cables I'm pretty new at this and probably should do some more research. I mean, I don't know what the difference is between "balanced" cables and those that are, what, unbalanced?!? :-o

Glad you were able to make all your decisions, Artar. Like you, retirement isn't all that far off for me, but I really want to have a good audio system set up before then. I may not be able to travel after I retire (if I can even retire) but I sure will be able to stay home and listen to music!

Holly