My New TT : The Cello from Scheu Analog

[AMITNOIDA]

@Arjun,

I was waiting for your first impression after putting the Thomas Schick tonearm in your Lenco. Have you changed the cart or using the Nagaoka? How is the Bhupinder's song in Kinara sounding? Is it way above what we have heard with Linn Akito arm in your home?

Another noticeable purchase is your Trigon Advance dual mono phonostage. Trigon phonostage sound signature was liked by both of us that day without any doubt. What improvement have you noticed with Trigon Advance over Trigon Vanguard?

Please post picture of the new tonearm in your Lenco and enjoy music.

Regards

 

[arj]

Arj,

I can almost feel your excitement. Success after hard work is always very satisfying. I have seen pictures of a few implementations of the 12" Schick arm with an added base. What is headshell you are using with which cart?

Did you get the Advance from Germany? And, since you went to the range of Advance, did you have a chance to compare the Advance with anything else, for example, the Aqvox phono?

Please post your detailed impressions with pictures.

Regards.

Thanks Asit, i will post pics later...they are not pretty as its still"Jugaad" stage
I am using a yamamoto Wooden headshell. currently still using my old nagaoka MP30 MM cart. will put in the DL103 once i get everything right
I got the advance from Jochen itself as he is the dealer and will provide warranty and bought it blind based on my very positive experience with the Vanguard+battery and from reviews of people on certain german forums on the differences between the models.

I remember you mentioning about the benefit of a battery power in phono stages and it is very true. In the Vanguard I had tried the power from the battery As well as from my regenerator and the sound was much more defined with the battery.
Another point towards it was the flexibility the Trigon range provides in gain/inpedance setting. your post on that was very illuminating

i somehow liked the philososphy of how it originated and evolved. i had not really considered the Aqvox. Having heard the "House Sound" of the trigon, I rather liked it. and the fact it has a local friendly dealer here just cinched the deal

 

[arj]

@Arjun,

I was waiting for your first impression after putting the Thomas Schick tonearm in your Lenco. Have you changed the cart or using the Nagaoka? How is the Bhupinder's song in Kinara sounding? Is it way above what we have heard with Linn Akito arm in your home?

Another noticeable purchase is your Trigon Advance dual mono phonostage. Trigon phonostage sound signature was liked by both of us that day without any doubt. What improvement have you noticed with Trigon Advance over Trigon Vanguard?

Please post picture of the new tonearm in your Lenco and enjoy music.

Regards

Hi Amit,
the TS tonearm has a big sound. If you remember the stage when you heard my system was small..which was quite opposite to what my digital rig does.
With this tonearm the stage is much bigger, the sound is a lot more refined and pops/Clicks are a lot less.

there is a dynamism about the sound and nuances are brought about better. I have an old LP of Runa laila..which was a bit scratchy earlier and it is a bit warped as well. it really sang (that was a pleasant shock for me) with the Punch and the energy.

this time i actually did a lot of measurements before i put in the cartridge..and it took me close to 2 hours to fit the tonearm...but the work was really worth it
let me know the next time you are here..would like to here your view on the difference as well.

 

[jls001]

Am in Germany today and just picked up my Thomas schick

Wow. Wow again! A Schick!

Must be divine sounding. Very keenly interested in your views/impressions. How long did you end up waiting? Hole in the wallet?

 

[arj]

Wow. Wow again! A Schick!

Must be divine sounding. Very keenly interested in your views/impressions. How long did you end up waiting? Hole in the wallet?

waited 4 months but Thomas asks for money only when he is ready for delivery..so no capital blocked.

total cost is 849 Euros ..i got shipping waived off since i had been travelling to/via Europe quite often the last 6 months so picked it up.
it is 4 times the cost of the rest of my TT (excluding the cart)..so still not sure if it is cost effective.

But since i was kind of hung upon a simple design and a 12" arm this was the only option which hit me that time. on Hindsight i might have even gone for the Scheu classik as there is something very simple about a unipivot armand it is a lot more cost friendly .
let me wait for the arm/ phono etc to break in before i add on to what I have already said..but it definitely deserves the rave you see on the net. it has a beautiful Finish and the balance etc is really beautiful.

 

[Asit]

Arj,

Can you compare the Advance with the Vanguard+Volcano combo?

It would be nice if you let us know about the cabling you are using (from phono to amp). What sort of cables do the Schick arm use? The tone arm cables go straight into the phono or you have to have another cable (of course shielded) hooked up from the arm to the phono?

Your using the arm board raises another question. Does this mean that TTs with smaller plinths (like my Cello) can have an outboard mount and 12" arms like the Schick can be used?

Regards.

 

[arj]

Arj,

Can you compare the Advance with the Vanguard+Volcano combo?

It would be nice if you let us know about the cabling you are using (from phono to amp). What sort of cables do the Schick arm use? The tone arm cables go straight into the phono or you have to have another cable (of course shielded) hooked up from the arm to the phono?

Your using the arm board raises another question. Does this mean that TTs with smaller plinths (like my Cello) can have an outboard mount and 12" arms like the Schick can be used?

Regards.

Hello Asit,
Unfortunately am not able to as I made the mistake of not keeping everything else constant.

While the Vanguard + Volcano was used with the Linn..i removed the Linn to put the TS in place
from what I could make out, expected changes are
1. More details
2. better instrument separation
i think the vanguard is warmer. but the price diff is around 8K INR so cannot really expect too much of a difference.

Thomas has his own cable which he uses for the internal wiring so i just asked him to extend that longer for another meter with RCA plugs which i use to plug into the Phono

I believe any TT (except for suspended ones) can have an external tonearm base.
Another option which I am seriously considering is a Cantilever on the plinth extending further to place the arm.
my TTs pics (my woodworking skills need to improve..)

I had to remove the labels on the TT so there are glue marks which need to be removed..still WIP



You can see many such implementations of the tonearm here

 

[jls001]

You can see many such implementations of the tonearm here

OK, this guy loves his Denon 103:lol:

All drool-worthy implementations.

 

[Asit]

Thanks for the pictures and a bit of your impressions. Later, if you can, please put up bigger pictures.

Can you explain a bit more on this outboard mount for the arm? How do you know how high it has to be, and how do you determine the position with respect to the centre of the platter (the spindle position)? How much tolerance is allowed with respect to the height and the position, or in other words, how precisely one needs to get the height and the distance right? Of the order of less a mm, mm or cm?

Regards.

 

[arj]

Can you explain a bit more on this outboard mount for the arm? How do you know how high it has to be, and how do you determine the position with respect to the centre of the platter (the spindle position)? How much tolerance is allowed with respect to the height and the position, or in other words, how precisely one needs to get the height and the distance right? Of the order of less a mm, mm or cm?

Regards.

Asit,
Height is trial and Error with the intent of getting the VTA right. the schick Arm does have VTA adjustment ie the height can be adjusted to quite an extent.so I just made sure that the height of the base is high enough so that at the VTA Lowest position, the tonearm can be kept parallel. the tolearance is easily around an inch or so so even at this position the base can be 1 inch lower But not higher.

As per Thomas's specs the center of the hole to the Platter center the distance must be exactly 12" (or 30.5mm) so i made a simple wooden "scale" with a hole at one end to keep on the spindle and a perpendicular nail at the other end. this I used to mark the center of the wood ie to drill . On the scale I also made marks to indicate the distance from the spindle to the bottom of the Tonearm since once i drill and fix a hole, thats what I would measure. that way I have a template to ensure constant distance

the distance tolerance has to be within 1mm or better still .5mm. this is what makes an external base complex unless bot the TT and this base are fixed on 1 platform or put together such that it is easy to "lock in"on to the distance.

personally I believe the best implementation configuration is on the Link above with the picture of "Scheu Laufwerk 1, Mopane wood Arm base" as it has a little bit of both ie the flexibility as well as the accuracy. this is the cantilever i meant

thats is where I will aim to get in Round 2

 

[arj]

OK, this guy loves his Denon 103:lol:

All drool-worthy implementations.

he recommends the denon 103 as the perfect match ..although people do use benz and EMts as well.

 

[stevieboy]

Congrats Arj!

Do start a new thread with pics! I thought you had the Denon but it looks like the Nagaoka cart on the Schick?

Regards

 

[arj]

Ill do that.yesterday put in the Denon using the MintLP tractor you had recommended. definitely an improvement in details.
the HF is still not open and bass is a bit excessive..need to give the cartridge some time.

 

[Naturelover]

Bumping an old thread.
Great read a second time round!

@Asit, how is the Cello playing now? I assume you still have unless you have not updated your signature.
How does it compare with a vintage TT like your Dual CS5000 especially for Indian classical and film music?
What protractor and other tools have you used for setting?
What sort of music do you listen to on the Cello and on the Dual?

Oh, so many questions!

I also have the Cello and was wondering if a vintage would have been a better choice. My primary listening is Indian classical, old Hindi film and Jazz.