Hi 853, I loved the Schick commonwealth this year, and I have heard his Schick chick 14 3 years ago though it was a less developed version than what he had one display this year. It costs 15k EUR.
I loved the Schopper, not so the Audiograil Garrard. I have also heard the Artisan Fidelity Garrard, a top spec, with Ikeda 407 and Koetsu Coralstone, through an Ongaku phono, though not compared with anything except the Burmester digital.
I must say I am a Schopper 124 and PTP Lenco fan (the Nantais Lenco did not do anything for me). As with Apogee, DIY restores differ based on who does them.
The PTP had by far the highest bass, dynamics, drive, and immersive soundstage. Once I get it, I will compare it side by side against Schopper (which is next to the Audiograil Garrard), and a Kuzma XL4. I will get to listen to another PTP next to Schopper, Lorricraft, and SP10 mk2, though in a much smaller system. And yet another Schopper, SME 30/12, and Audiograil compare is on the cards later in the year. And once Gian gets his arm for his Schopper, next to the Bergmann.
All that said, the cost and resale of the PTP makes it a no-brainer for me till the final TT is found (which in my case might be the Schopper if it’s better). For someone with much more money, the PTP will make a great second table.
Absolutely, and although we’re dealing with some fundamental characteristics that differentiate an L75 from a TD124 from a 301, mostly we’re dealing with variables related to implementation, not to mention arm/cart/setup/loading, etc. But like I say, it’s a great time to be alive if you’re an idler fan, or indeed, of the SP10 or EMTs… choices, choices, choices, or rather, preferences, preferences, preferences.
Keep us posted.
853, I love the Saskia, but despite messages requesting more info, I've been left none the wiser
Off the shortlist
Schick's 14 has been so long in coming, and still it hasn't arrived
Ditto
Artisan Fidelity, too rich for my tastes
Schopper 124, not the most user friendly website
Peter's PTP Solid 12, just a fully formed product, really excellent reviews and Real World reports, excellent engineering and friendly comms, aesthetically v pleasing, and true vfm
I mean, what more could you want?
What more could you want? Well, you might want a sound that isn’t what you get with a L75, even with Peter’s mods, has the ability to have more than one arm length, and isn’t made from Corian, right?*
I think in regard to the Saskia, you send Mosin a PM, buy a return ticket and go hear it. Info by itself is unlikely to sway anyone away or toward it, but experiencing it in the flesh would. In talking to Schick in Munich I got the feeling that he just wants to get it right, and if that means not making it to market before that time, then so be it, and kudos to him for being so resolute in his willingness to do so. Walking around Munich I got to hear some really nice turntables, but for whatever reason it was Schick’s idler that I enjoyed most over the much more expensive belt-drive alternatives I heard there, although possibly the direct drive Primary Control Kinea is worth some more investigation (as is their Field Coil arm).
I can understand people balk at the Artisan Fidelity approach, but the reality remains you get to select a plinth that more reflects your own sensibilities, both aesthetically and sonically, and many people are happy to pay more (over the cost of the PTP) for those options, of whom I am one. Like I say above, implementation/setup can’t be ignored, but based on what I’ve seen OMA, Artisan Fidelity, Saskia, Schick, Schopper and PTP bring to market in the last few years, not to mention what I saw in Munich, I remain optimistic there are avenues worth exploring at all points of the pricing spectrum.
Best,
853guy
*It’s not that I have anything against corian in-and-of-itself, just that there’s options for plinthing a L75 (or indeed a Garrard or Thorens) that are just as valid, albeit, with different sets of pros/cons.