anyone happy with Breuer tonearm? experiences?

I bought my Linn LP12 in 1982 with Breuer type 5 and have loved it since the day it landed in my hands. Ultra rare tonearm and tonearm club/cult like following. I feel extremely privileged to have such an incredible arm in my system. 

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Hi

I've owned a breuer arm for maybe 2 years now. Previous to that i owned the systemdek profile arm and the origin live silver mk3. First of all i have no definitive statement as to whether or not the breuer is a "good" arm. Taste, set up and system synergy will play a critical role in determining subjectively if it is "good" or "bad".

With that said, it is designed by the swiss. Have you ever heard of anything bad designed by swiss engineers? I haven't. I've used it with a denon 103 and a jan allaerts mc1b mk2. In the context of the rest of my system i find it a very fast, dynamic and transparent arm. My experience was that i could "hear" the origin and profile arm but with the breuer it stealthily imposes very very little artifacts into/over the music. It reminds me of that cliche "the system just disappears and your just left with the music" There are moments when i find the music "astounding" with it in the chain.

Warning: The rest of your system has to be transparent and neutral and up to snuff otherwise this arm won't really reveal its capabilities. In other wards no wooly or syrupy systems. Second, it is (i think)very sensitive to vibration therefore you could have a negative experience with it but its not the arm but something else. Hence i have heard some describe it as "bright!" "mechanical". I too have experienced this but ultimately through perseverance discovered the problem was else ware and not the arm.

FWIW some very big name audiophiles own and continue to use it. This is a serious arm with alot of potential in its design.

Word is that it has a bearing that is EXTREMELY resistant to friction. (A great bearing) Compared to the other arms i've owned i can totally testify to this. You have to have some arm experience behind your belt before you own this one as it is kinda easy to destroy a cartridge because of this. When i move the arm around i can't feel the pivot point. So, so light, utterly no sense of resistance, is what i mean.

It has no arm lock or fingerlift. Oh boy! To avoid cart damage i made a little diy contraption to hold it in one place. Basically its like two tiny field goal posts between which the arm will sit while not in use.

How does bring the arm back after one side has finished playing? I raise the arm with the lever lift and bring the arm to the outside of the record by (gently and carefully) pushing the counter weight as it slides along its "rest".

Anyways, to summarize, i think its a superb arm that is fast, transparent, neutral, honest, renders true timbres while not detracting from the music. It is natural, warm but not romantic. I would be very curious to experience a schroder and to compare my experience with it against the breuer. I venture to say that the schroder would be more organic while the breuer is more toward "natural".

Thanks.

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Dear Generankin, With due respect, and, I hope, a sense of humor, why didn't that incident make you think that you must have an unusually good telephone? By far, the phone link was the limiting factor in that situation.

Dear Sean, Vidmantas borrowed my Sumiko 800 out of curiosity and was impressed by the work done by Fletcher (the designer) and in particular with the work of the master machinist Davidson who made all parts on his lathe. But we are tolking about different prices when comparing with,say, the Reed. I own the Reed 2 A specialy made for my Kuzma by Vidmantas together with the armpod. So I also understand your enthusiasm for the Reed.

Regards,

If you want a dynamic arm with easy setup then IME you should look at a Reed tonearm. I have no experience with a Breuer arm and don't know what its price point is. From what I have read it is picky about what carts work well on it. The Reed on the other hand has worked well with all the carts I have tried on it.

Sean

The myths about 'Breuer' get even stronger. BTW there are
different versions from different times. All of them are overpriced . There are also Brinkmann versions with the 'right' counterweight(s). Breuer refused to add any separates. In my opinion the Sumiko 800 (aka 'the arm')
is better and much cheaper. One should try to get one with
more weights than one. There are 5 of them intended for carts from 6 till 22 g. own weight. However the fact that Sumiko is cheaper may cause some 'status problems'.

Regards,

I've had a 5b for about 34 years. When I installed it, I had a record playing while I telephoned my then-girlfriend (wife now for going on 33 years). She interrupted to ask if I'd gotten a new cartridge. I asked why (she knew the recording: Ditters von Dittersdorf double bass concerto). She said "The string bass sounds stringier."

That alone tells you why a Breuer is worth the money. When a musician with an good ear hears the difference over the telephone ...

Dear M189009: The Schroeder and Breuer tonearms are first rate ones but its performance depend on the phono cartridge that you choose to match with that tonearm.

Depending of your cartridge you could have some very good tonearm options along the Breuer.

Regards and enjoy the music.
raul.