Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Teres Model 135 Turntables by user510

Model:	Model 135
Category:	Turntables
Suggested Retail Price:	$1350 less arm
Description:	The company's least expensive solid acrylic turntable
Manufacturer URL:	Teres
Model Picture:	View

Review by user510 ( A ) on September 10, 2002 at 15:21:25
IP Address: 63.191.200.184

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for the Model 135

The Teres Model 135 with Expressimo RB250 tonearm.
Having had the past four-1/2 months to gain some perspective on this turntable I offer the following to those who would like to know what it's like to live with one of these beauties. This particular turntable is composed of:
1) a solid clear acrylic base resting on three BDR carbon fiber cones
2) a SUBSTANTIAL spindle bearing of a design said to limit drive-belt-induced-rocking common to most designs.
3) a solid acrylic platter
4) a solid acrylic arm board.
The tonearm is offered as an option. I chose the Expressimo RB250 arm that is a Rega RB250 arm modified by Expressimo Audio of Eureka, Ca. http://www.expressimoaudio.com .
This tonearm is modified as follows:
1) plastic counterweight stub is replaced with machined solid stainless stub.
2) Rega counterweight is replaced with the Expressimo manufactured "The Heavyweight" counterweight that features an offset stub location that places center of counterweight mass at approximate vertical location of the cartridge stylus.
3) Expressimo VTA adjuster is added to the tonearm
4) Cardas one piece wiring set.
This table is offered as a "kit". As such it requires the purchaser to assemble the unit. The acrylic requires sanding and polishing to achieve the clear appearance seen in the above photo. For a detailed description of my experience with the assembly, polishing and setting up see this link: http://www.theanalogdept.com/teres.htm .
Price breakdown:
Table: $1350
Arm: $425
BDR cones: $50
Shipping & Handling: $57 (Colorado to Washington state)
Total: $1885.00 (rounded off to the lowest $5.00 by Chris over the phone)
Date of purchase: April 15, 2002
Operation:
This table offers a unique operation capability. Primarily due to the electronic controller in the motor pod, the platter can be started and stopped by man-handling it. Give the platter a push and it starts. Gently hold the spinning platter with your hands, and it stops. I find this very entertaining. The table's solidness and heft contribute to a feeling of substantial hardware when doing this. There is a push button on the motor pod that can be used to start, stop and change between 33-1/3 and 45 rpm. Operation is simple and intuitive this way as well.
Motor Pod: Solid machined aluminum case design with a bolt down top and anodized black finish.
Motor: Maxon 110189 precision DC motor
Power supply: Tamura wall transformer with cable. 120 Volts AC in, 14Volts DC out at 850 Milli-Amps
Drive Cord: Silk string with knot
Motor Controller: Teres describes their controller circuit as one that brings the platter up to the correct speed then switches to a mode that will only change the output voltage a few millivolts per minute. This avoids hunting (constantly making small speed adjustments) Once locked in the Teres controller adjusts the speed only enough to compensate for the slow speed drift that occurs during operation. Teres describes this as a self calibrating DC regulator.
In practice, I have noticed that the motor will make corrections when physical mis-alignments exist between the motor pulley and platter. If a high degree of precision is not exercised in obtaining parallelism between platter and pulley, excessive force will be read by the DC motor controller and an audible slow-down followed by a correction will be plainly heard...! My experience has been that even though both motor pod and turntable are sitting on the same flat and level surface, alignment is not close enough to avoid these correction episodes. I have found that I can tune my alignment by placing shim material under one of the motor pod feet to gain an adequate alignment. I've noticed that Teres is now offering their motor pods with a new design of pulley. The speed correction episodes have been discussed at length over the Teres email list. I should note that had I complained directly to Chris Brady at Teres, he Would Have offered a replacement or made any effort to correct this condition. In the end, I preferred to find my own correction and now do not suffer these correction episodes.
Record clamping:
A two piece "Reflex clamp" is offered with the base kit. The clamp operates via screw down threads on the threaded center post. There is a solid delrin curved puck that fits over the spindle post and under the LP. This serves to influence a curving direction when screwing down the clamp over the vinyl LP. Also noteworthy is the absense of any platter mat. The intent is for the LP to be placed directly against the bare acrylic platter. In practice this system works superbly. I use this clamp always. In many cases, a slight vacuum will be observed when removing the LP from the platter. I can't imagine a clamping system better than this without going to the expense of a vacuum platter. Absolutely superb...!

What does it sound like...?
Considerable influence is offered by the choice of tonearm and cartridge. However I was able to make a comparison between my previous table and the Teres using the same phono cartridge. The cartridge in question at the time was the venerable Shure V15VxMR. This mm cartridge was used on my former table, a heavily damp-modded Thorens TD160 MK I using the standard TP16 MK I tonearm. Clearly, the Teres exibited superior detail extraction in all frequencies over the vintage Thorens. Modded though it was, it could not produce the sense of natural timbre, ambience or sound stage definition offered up by the Teres. The Teres exhibited a precise sound stage with borders clearly sketched out in 3D space. Bass notes seemed tighter but with slightly less slam that what was produced by the Thorens. I think this may be a strength offered by suspended tables, explosive slam that you can't get with solid high-mass tables. (A subjective note there.) Background noise seemed similar between the two tables. The Thorens isolates it's arm and cartridge through a spring suspended sub-chassis design, the Teres isolates by virtue of the physical characteritics of the materials and amount of mass in it's construction. For certain, a more technical and precise explanation will have to be found elsewhere. I offer what my ears perceive.
A month later, I installed a Shelter 501 MC cartridge to the Teres. This resulted in a dramatic increase in detail extraction. With the Shelter, subtle, soft notes and sounds now became better defined. A sense of naturalness and with accurate timbre seemed more apparent. Soundstage became even better defined. I noticed the stage tended to be more forward and closer to the listener than before. I also heard improvements in dynamic transitional passages. Dynamics got faster and more explosive. This is a nice sounding cartridge. US list price is $800. It was offered directly from Japan at approximately $590 plus S&H. I found a US dealer who was willing to strike a balance between the two extremes in price.
To sum:
The clear acrylic Teres is a very nice table to look at as well as listen to. The operational characteristics of the motor controller are quite endearing when one chooses to man-handle the platter. Audible artifacts with the motor controller and its speed correction episodes eventually became understood and no longer presented themselves. The operation of the "Reflex Clamp" is superb and has spoiled me for life. The table presents a solid well defined sound stage with considerable ambience and a sense of space around notes. Detail extraction is quite high. Extended bass could be a bit stronger however. The Thorens with Shure V15 offered a more extended,solid bottom end and a higher amount of bass slam when playing classic rock.
Another note: These observations have been made using the built-in phono stage of the Classe' integrated amplifier. This phono stage is switchable between MC and MM cartridges but offers no ohm loading adjustments. As a result, the listening evaluations were made with the Shelter cartridge loaded at 47Khz...! Shelter recommends loading their 501-type-2 at 100hz. Clearly, I will experience a better, more complete picture of what this table can sound like when I finally pony up the cash it's going to take to obtain an adequate phono stage to match this fine cartridge. I expect this to cost nearly as much as the table less tonearm itself. That's another consideration when choosing to go with an MC cartridge. Playing vinyl isn't necessarily cheap folks.
Pictures of the room and other components can be seen at the link here: http://www.theanalogdept.com/user510.htm

Product Weakness: Motor controller requires precise physical alignment with the platter. Once accomplished, there are no weakness's.
Product Strengths: Superior record clamping

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Classe' CAP 151
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Teres,
Speakers:	NHT 2.9
Cables/Interconnects:	TT IC: Cardas
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classic Rock, 50's and 60's jazz, some well known classical
Room Size (LxWxH):	30 ft. x 14 ft. x 16ft
Room Comments/Treatments:	Vaulted ceiling
Time Period/Length of Audition:	4-1/2 mos.
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Motor controller requires precise physical alignment with the platter. Once accomplished, there are no weakness's.
Product Strengths:	Superior record clamping