Sidebar: Thomas Schick 10.5" tonearm
I must begin by saying that Thomas Schick is a friend of mine. I know him because we share a love for schnitzel, drinking songs, and playing records through ancient horn speakers. Art Dudley reviewed his 12" tonearm in Listening #87, and it was a core component in that Salt Cellar System I described in GD34. Now, a $1995, 10.5" Schick tonearm (plus Schick's $295 graphite headshell) has replaced the now-discontinued 12" Jelco TK-850L on my Dr. Feickert Blackbird turntable.
This upgrade improves the sound quality of my system while keeping my turntable and tonearm in current production. Both the tonearm and the headshell are hand-made in Germany and distributed in the United States by MoFi Distribution (footnote 1).
Being a gearhead, I am really into bearings, and the Schick's bearings are impressive. They feel ever so much like the Breuer Dynamic and Sumiko MDC-800 tonearms of my past. I also admire the basic, bling-free look of his arms. After hearing Schick's arms in a variety of systems, I suspected that medium length might strike a good balance between the liveliness of the 9" and the greater mass and tracing accuracy of the 12" version.
During the course of this Dream, with every cartridge I tried, the Schick played records with more solidity and silence than the 12" Jelco it replaced.
The Jelco generated a kind of flash-dance liveliness that I enjoyed. Consequently, when I first installed the Schick it seemed a bit dull and serious. Nevertheless, with the Schick, every cartridge I've tried, no matter its compliance (up to 22µm/mN), seems to dig deeper and more steadily into the grooves.
Spending 10 times more money than the Schick costs would possibly buy me a little more corporality, blacker silence, more gunshot dynamics, and a cleaner window into the inner workings of recordings, but the Dr. Feickert Blackbird plus the 10.5" Schick gives me more than 10 times more of these important qualities than I get from my Pioneer PLX-1000 or Technics SL-1200. I am well pleased.—Herb Reichert
Footnote 1: Thomas Schick, German. Web: thomas-schick.com/en/produkte/. US distributor: Mobile Fidelity Distribution, 1811 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, IL 60660. Tel: (312) 738-5025. Fax: (312) 433-0011. Web: mofidistribution.com.
This upgrade improves the sound quality of my system while keeping my turntable and tonearm in current production. Both the tonearm and the headshell are hand-made in Germany and distributed in the United States by MoFi Distribution (footnote 1).
Being a gearhead, I am really into bearings, and the Schick's bearings are impressive. They feel ever so much like the Breuer Dynamic and Sumiko MDC-800 tonearms of my past. I also admire the basic, bling-free look of his arms. After hearing Schick's arms in a variety of systems, I suspected that medium length might strike a good balance between the liveliness of the 9" and the greater mass and tracing accuracy of the 12" version.
During the course of this Dream, with every cartridge I tried, the Schick played records with more solidity and silence than the 12" Jelco it replaced.
The Jelco generated a kind of flash-dance liveliness that I enjoyed. Consequently, when I first installed the Schick it seemed a bit dull and serious. Nevertheless, with the Schick, every cartridge I've tried, no matter its compliance (up to 22µm/mN), seems to dig deeper and more steadily into the grooves.
Spending 10 times more money than the Schick costs would possibly buy me a little more corporality, blacker silence, more gunshot dynamics, and a cleaner window into the inner workings of recordings, but the Dr. Feickert Blackbird plus the 10.5" Schick gives me more than 10 times more of these important qualities than I get from my Pioneer PLX-1000 or Technics SL-1200. I am well pleased.—Herb Reichert
Footnote 1: Thomas Schick, German. Web: thomas-schick.com/en/produkte/. US distributor: Mobile Fidelity Distribution, 1811 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, IL 60660. Tel: (312) 738-5025. Fax: (312) 433-0011. Web: mofidistribution.com.
