Jimbo, yes I do think that the Teres would be a good option for you, but not just because I have one. I bought one for the same reasons that I recommend it to others. It's a damn good TT.

If you want to go the speaker route, and you like the Maggies, then go up to the true ribbon series. You'll probably need some more juice from the amp then as well. That can get pretty expensive too. I don't know too much about the Martin-Logans, but if you like a hybrid, the Newform 645 Ribbon Speakers are pretty interesting. I haven't heard them personally, but I've talked to a few people who owned them and they liked them alot, and said that they were really good for the money($2500). It's a 48" ribbon above a pair of woofers in a tower configuration. Also the Manger is pretty interesting. It's a bending-wave driver that sounds alot like E-stats, and they need a woofer below 80Hz. Expensive though($5k). Just a couple of thoughts for you.

twl August 17, 2002 00:41

Jimbo, I always use the signal progression order-of-importance in upgrading. You can always get more for your money by ugrading in the front end than anywhere else. While you do have a nice analog rig, you may be able to do away with that DBX unit, if you could get more dynamics and lower noise out of your TT/arm/cart. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking your analog setup. I just think that is the place to get better sound. You must feel the need for better dynamics, or you wouldn't have put the DBX in there to start with. IMO the DBX is a band-aid, and you need to concentrate on the place where your dynamics come from, which is your source component. This would leave you with a shorter signal path, fewer cables, and greater resolution, as well as improving the dynamics you want. Likely, a TT that will do better dynamically than the Well Tempered Classic will give better detail info as well. So you win all the way around. I think this is a sensible upgrade strategy.

twl August 16, 2002 20:10