2 Durand Telos tonearms

Mike Lavigne · Mar 21, 2013

last Saturday Joel Durand brought over my second Telos tonearm for my Miyajima Labs Premium Be mono cartridge and installed it. it replaced my Durand Talea II which i sold. it worked out that the buyer for the Talea II was present to take possession of the Talea 2 at that same time as he and his wife had driven down from Vancouver B.C. it was a fun session and 2 visitors did post their impressions on my Audiogon system page here and here .

a month or so previously i had purchased a Sapphire cartridge plate for my original Telos where i have my stereo cartridge, the Ortofon MC Anna.

i did not purchase the Sapphire cartridge plate for the mono Telos yet.

i am very very happy with my tonearms.

jazdoc · Mar 21, 2013

Congrats Mike! Can't wait to hear it. I have fond memories of the Miyajima on a Telos.

rockitman · Mar 21, 2013

I like the looks of that Anna on the stereo arm. Congrats ! Sapphire cart plate ?

Mike Lavigne · Mar 21, 2013

rockitman said:
I like the looks of that Anna on the stereo arm. Congrats ! Sapphire cart plate ?

thanks.

the standard cartridge plate is metal, not sure exactly what metal. the cartridge is attached to the plate and then one screw attaches it to the tonearm. so the cartridge<->arm interface is this plate.

it turns out that (at least with the Telos) Sapphire sounds better than metal, the sound is cleaner, more detail, more ease, there is more snap to transients, more solidity to the soundstage, more bass slam and articulation. when you think about it this cartridge plate has a similar function to the bearing in that it's a link in the chain. and it's the link which is closest to the cartridge. and Sapphire is what the bearing is made out of. likely Sapphire has less resonance than metal (i'm making a SWAG here.....i don't really know about such things).

would Sapphire as the cartridge<->tonearm interface improve other arms? i have no idea.

i suspect that once enough people hear what Sapphire does on the Telos that you will see some others try it. that is how things work.

vinylphilemag · Mar 21, 2013

A nice addition to your system, Mike! Looking forward to hearing it (again) one day!

Mosin · Mar 21, 2013

Remind me to scream at Joel. All this twelve inch tonearm business is causing me to have to redesign almost everything about my turntable's plinth, even though the current one adapts well enough. Still...

Mike Lavigne · Mar 21, 2013

Mosin said:
Remind me to scream at Joel. All this twelve inch tonearm business is causing me to have to redesign almost everything about my turntable's plinth, even though the current one adapts well enough. Still...

when you hear the Telos on your fabulous turntable you will be very glad you did allow for a 12 incher. i would imagine that combination would be breathtaking. and remember that the Telos base is quite large and very heavy. with your plinth being that beautiful slate that is maybe not a big deal.

i will be sure to remind you about the screaming.

Mike Lavigne · Mar 21, 2013

jazdoc said:
Congrats Mike! Can't wait to hear it. I have fond memories of the Miyajima on a Telos.

i'm looking forward to you bringing a few of your superduper mono's over to play.....very soon.

Mike Lavigne · Mar 21, 2013

vinylphilemag said:
A nice addition to your system, Mike! Looking forward to hearing it (again) one day!

thanks Rich. hope to see you and your wife soon down here.

rockitman · Mar 21, 2013

Mike Lavigne said:
i suspect that once enough people hear what Sapphire does on the Telos that you will see some others try it. that is how things work.

I suspect the sapphire plate is considerably more expensive than the metal plate ?

Mosin · Mar 21, 2013

Mike Lavigne said:
when you hear the Telos on your fabulous turntable you will be very glad you did allow for a 12 incher. i would imagine that combination would be breathtaking. and remember that the Telos base is quite large and very heavy. with your plinth being that beautiful slate that is maybe not a big deal.

i will be sure to remind you about the screaming.

Well, a couple of them are out in the world with Taleas on them, and those guys are really happy with the combination. That works for me; Joel, too.

Mike Lavigne · Mar 21, 2013

rockitman said:
I suspect the sapphire plate is considerably more expensive than the metal plate ?

it's a $5k upgrade. i won't try to rationalize it for anyone. if you own a Telos and then hear what this piece does you will be figuring out how to get it.

maybe think of it as a cartridge upgrade.....like your Coralstone Koetsu. is that worth $5k+ more than the less expensive Koetsu's? maybe not to everyone. but possibly to a few. and this piece will yield quite a bit more real performance difference than that IMHO.....having owned a Rosewood Signature Platinum and having heard the Coralstone.

it might be interesting to hear a Sapphire body Koetsu. it would not be cheap but it might be quite wonderful.

rockitman · Mar 22, 2013

Mike Lavigne said:
it's a $5k upgrade. i won't try to rationalize it for anyone. if you own a Telos and then hear what this piece does you will be figuring out how to get it.

maybe think of it as a cartridge upgrade.....like your Coralstone Koetsu. is that worth $5k+ more than the less expensive Koetsu's? maybe not to everyone. but possibly to a few. and this piece will yield quite a bit more real performance difference than that IMHO.....having owned a Rosewood Signature Platinum and having heard the Coralstone.

it might be interesting to hear a Sapphire body Koetsu. it would not be cheap but it might be quite wonderful.

no need to rationalize this fun and insane hobby here.

The sapphire Koetsu stone body mount does sound interesting. The Coralstone is on vaca currently and the A90 back in. Still a great cart.

jeromelang · Mar 30, 2013

Removing metallic materials from crucial audio transmission or audio transducer devices is always a good thing.
The more metallic materials are removed, the better the sound progressively gets.

Mike Lavigne · Mar 30, 2013

jeromelang said:
Removing metallic materials from crucial audio transmission or audio transducer devices is always a good thing.
The more metallic materials are removed, the better the sound progressively gets.

i lean toward a similar perspective; but i'm not sure i'd be quite that definative about it. if we limit ourselves to metal pieces so far built; then i'd be more in agreement that in many cases i prefer other materials. but who can predict future development with metal. one needs an open mind, both to metal and non metal.

after all, many musical instruments are made with metal. and no doubt certain parts need to be made of metal such as tonearm bases and armwand weights.

Mosin · Mar 30, 2013

Mike Lavigne said:
i lean toward a similar perspective; but i'm not sure i'd be quite that definative about it. if we limit ourselves to metal pieces so far built; then i'd be more in agreement that in many cases i prefer other materials. but who can predict future development with metal. one needs an open mind, both to metal and non metal.

after all, many musical instruments are made with metal. and no doubt certain parts need to be made of metal such as tonearm bases and armwand weights.

I agree, and though I design with metals, I always try to incorporate them in such a way that they don't impart a sonic signature. They all tend to be one step removed, or limited in their contact. PVD nitriding has come a long way, and it is beneficial in this regard.

flez007 · Mar 31, 2013

Very nice arms Mike, my wooden Scheu arm looks like a toy compared to those 12-inchers!

Sammy T · Mar 31, 2013

16 K each !?!

Mike Lavigne · Mar 31, 2013

Sammy T said:
16 K each !?!

the price is $19,500 each.

the Sapphire cartridge plate upgrade is $4750.

mep · Mar 31, 2013

flez007 said:
Very nice arms Mike, my wooden Scheu arm looks like a toy compared to those 12-inchers!

Most 9" arms look like toys compared to 12" arms.

2 Durand Telos tonearms

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