Teres Audio shows two new prototype turntables

Wayne1 · « **on:** 14 May 2006, 03:35 pm »

Last evening, Chris Brady invited a group of audiophiles to his house for the unveiling of two, new prototype TT.

The first is the 280. This is said to offer "the most bang for the buck" in the Teres line.

Please excuse the poor picture quality. It was taken without a flash under flourescents.

The base and platter are made of Baltic Birch. There will be roughly 32 lbs of lead shot in the platter. An equal amount will be used in the base.

The ball park price for this table is said to be "under $3,000"

Chris says it should deliver 80-90% of the sound of the Teres 320 for 1/2 the price.

We were able to directly compare the sound of the 280 to the 320. The 280 is a bit "softer" sounding. It does not have quite the definition of highs or dynamics that the 320 does. They do both share the warmth of the full wood Teres sound.

The next table is still a work in progress, the 400

This has a DIRECT DRIVE motor!!. The mass of electronics you see to the left in the photo is the prototype motor drive controller.

Chris said he started on this project as an outgrowth of looking for the best belt material. He noticed that different material changed the sound. He started looking for something to eliminate that variable .

This is still very much a work in progress. The base shown here is Baltic Birch painted black. Current total weight of the table is 135 lbs. He will try to find other finish options. He still needs to refine the controller and put it in an appropriate case.

The sound of the current prototype is flat out amazing. It has absolute perfect pitch stability. This is not anything you would notice unless directly compared. It has far more dynamics and speed of attack on transients then the belt drive.

He has added a torque control to the motor controller. By changing the torque setting you CAN change the sound of the TT. Towards one end it becomes very "steely" and bright. All hard transients. Towards the other end, the highs soften up and the bass loosens up, as well. Quite an interesting effect.

Chris is ballparking that the direct drive option would add about $4000.00 to the cost of a Teres. He is thinking of only making it available on the top two models.

I came away very impressed with the sound and the looks of the new 280. I will have to bring my 255 up to Chris' for a shootout with the 280

JDUBS · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 May 2006, 03:44 pm »

Nice!!

Was the other table their new flagship direct-drive?

-Jim

Wayne1 · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 May 2006, 04:06 pm »

Jim,

I hit the submit button a bit too quick. I have added some more pictures and descriptions.

JDUBS · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 May 2006, 04:30 pm »

Great pics, Wayne. I heard about the DD table over on Audiogon. Glad you were able to see and hear it.

I bet it sounds amazing!

-Jim

JoshK · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 May 2006, 04:35 pm »

I think I may have to contact Chris soon about upgrading my platter...

Wayne1 · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 May 2006, 05:16 pm »

The pics of the 280 really do not do it justice. I spent a goodly portion of the night just drooling over it.

The more rounded edges and the horizontal laminations along with the light blond color give it a very art deco feel.

The 400, in it's present form is just a bit analytical, for me. Chris did say he thought he might have used a bit too much brass in the base. I think by the time RMAF rolls along he should have all the bugs worked out.

Towards the end of the listening session, for grins, I placed some of the large ebony pucks I brought along

on various pieces of gear. It made a very large difference in the sound when one was placed on the heatsink of the motor controller. No could understand why a cylinder of ebony, placed on a hunk of milled aluminum, holding transistors that control the speed of the 63 lb platter would change the sound, but it did. Chris just sat back and laughed

mgalusha · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 May 2006, 01:58 am »

Now I'm even more sorry that I didn't make it to the event. I'm sure both the sounds and company were excellent. Guess I'll just have to be happy with my table. Not good for my wallet to visit Chris too often.

BTW, the arrangement of the large pucks looks a bit like Mickey Mouse.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 May 2006, 02:36 am »

Direct drive is a $4000 option on a Teres? That is, $4000.00 more than the standard (amazing, I hear) outboard DC motor?

I'm getting dizzy adding up all these numbers....

BobM · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 May 2006, 12:42 pm »

Don't forget the differences that the arms on each table contribute to the sound. The Moerch is a good arm, hell, a great arm for the price, but the Shroeder on the expensive table surely blows it away.

Very pretty lust pictures though.

Enjoy,
Bob

Wayne1 · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 May 2006, 03:40 pm »

John,

The direct drive table was shown as a proof of concept prototype. It is far from a finished product. Chris said ther motor controller cost quite a bit to build. He tried many different PS cap and PS bypass caps. Each changed the sound. The configuration we listened to was what he liked, so far. It was not in a case. He was thinnking that the final case would have to be at least half wood to match the cosmetics of the TT.

He is thinking that because of the production cost of implementing his DD design, only those folks interested in his top end tables would be willing to pay the price. BTW the motor speed controller is entirely his design from scratch. No off the shelf solutions there.

The final price for a Teres TT with a direct drive motor will be in the $12,000-$16,000 range.

BobM,

There is no question the arm/cartridge combos played a part in the difference we heard between the belt and direct drive tables. Chris did use the Morch with a ZYX R-1000 for the belt drive comparisons. That combo is roughly $4500.00. The arm was moved between the 280 and the 320 to compare the tables on an equal footing. While the 320 did have better dynamics and defintion of the highs, I did not think it was $3000.00 better. When I bought my 255 Teres I was able to hear the difference between the wood platter and the lead filled acrylic. The wood was better. For me, at the time, it was not $1,000.00 better.

The Reference Arm and ZYX Universe cartridge used on the 400 series together sell for $12,500.

Perhaps at some future gathering, when Chris finishes the 400 series design, he will offer a comparison between a 340 or 360 with the Reference/Universe combo and the 400 with the same arm/cartridge.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #10 on:** 16 May 2006, 06:02 pm »

Truly amazing stuff over at Teres, Wayne. They are really pushing the vinyl envelope there in the Denver area

Thanks for the interpretation of Teres pricing and what they are up to

John / TCG