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Brinkmann/Spiral Groove/TW Acustic Black Night...?

Hi,

I'm seriously considering one of these turntables at the moment, and I would truly appreciate any opinions regarding them related to sonics, reliability, flexibility, ease of use & maintenance etc.

The candidates are:

- Brinkmann Balance anniversary (turntable, 10.5 tonearm, Ti-cartridge, tube power supply, HRS-platform)

- Spiral Groove SG1 + Centroid tonearm

- TW Acustic Black Night + Raven 10.5 tonearm

The price for these setups (used or new) are quite similar when adding a cartridge within the 4-5000$ price range to the Spiral Groove and TW Acoustic tables. But, I can get the Black Knight + Raven 10.5 tonearm new at about the same price as the others used.

I'm using the Brinkmann Bardo today, which I believe is a very neutral and reliable table. But, to some degree it doesn't manage to engage me enough emotionally being rather correct and slightly sharp around the edges. What I'm looking for in an upgrade is first and foremost a more generous and musical presentation (warmth, scale, texture, body, flow) - more music and less hifi if you wish.

My taste in music is varied, but I tend to optimize my system based on what I listen to the most (sing- and songwriters), which means that the handling of voices, acoustical instruments and piano are critical.

So far, my gut feeling tells me that the TW Acoustics Black Night might be the answer partnered with the right cartridge.

Of the three, only the Brinkmann Balance is available locally for audition.

My phono is the Zanden 1200 MKIII. The rest of the system consists of an Aesthetix Callisto Eclipse (preamp), Karan KA M2000 (monos) and Sonus Faber Futura (speakers). Cabling is Nordost Valhalla (power) + Kubala Sosna Elation (interconnects).

Any inputs are most welcome!
128x128sidekick_i
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
I've heard both the Balance and Bardo at a NYC show last year and the guy from the dealer who spun the LPs kept returning to the Balance. It did sound more natural to me. The Brinkmanns used to be demoed on HRS platforms, but now I think the dealers prefer showing them on Vibraplane platforms. I think the isolation is better.

I've also heard the Black Night at the same show in another room. The systems sounded very different, though I could not determine what the turntables were contributing to the sound.

In general, the TW rooms have sounded warmer, fuller and less tonally balanced than the Brinkmann rooms, but that could be a result of all sorts of things.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
Taste is always different, but check the speed ability first from your choices before you do a serious investment. Some are really out of 33.3, some ignore that, because they like this kind of Pace, Rhythm and Timing. A Timeline from Sutherland can be a wake up call :-).
Same for Tonearm Geometry, some can handle demanding tracks better than others.
Good tables have no "sound", they spin a record correctly and that's it. Based on design some have a better frequency area than others. On a top System you get the emotion from the records, each one will show you something new, even with music you didn't like before.
But when you are not interested in digging a bit deeper, Linn LP12 is famous for midrange pushing, when you want foot whippin' with Schubert Chamber Orchestra, Ravens are generally a good ticket for that, Cheap (more or less) and good is Oracle Turntable with a Triplanar Arm...there are a lot of choices.
Anyway, I would be careful with "recommendations" for blind buy, when you are willing to invest a few thousand $, a personal visit, Dealer or Private owner, will be cheap at the end of day. I listened to many very expensive rigs, the majority of owners told and wrote me the most beautiful things about diving into music, at the end I asked for mercy and was glad coming home without deep depressions. But, that's me. And sometimes you can learn something. Not everything today is done the way you expect for the thousands of Dollars you want to spend :-)
azjake's avatar
azjake
285 posts
 
Sidekick i,

The TW will initially "sound" more like real music but that image will fade fairly quickly!
The Spiral Groove and arm will be the best of the three for reasons of musicality, pace,timing and accuracy.

That said, the cartridge itself will be the final arbiter as to the ease or harshness of the sound.

The S.G. is Allen.s twenty year plus labor of love and as such is built compact,complete and refined!

At 4 to5k you have a wonderful selection of cartridge's available...Pick the cartridge first THEN the tt...:-)

Azjake
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