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Moving into vinyl. Brinkman, TW Raven, GrandPrix??

Dear all,

I'm considering moving into vinyl as all my friends tell me it's the real deal and once you've got it, digital doesn't seem to appealing anymore.

I've being reading some threads on the various brands etc etc and have made a selection of a few players I'm highly interested in.

- Brinkman Balance
- TW Raven Black Night
- Grand Prix Audio Monaco turntable

Obviously the arm/cart has an impact on the sound as well, but which of these tables would to prefer and why? Any other tables I should consider?

I don't have funds for the really expensive turntables, the above brands are the price range I'm thinking of buying.

Appreciate your feedback.

Thanks.
maxx1973
mmakshak
589 posts
 
The benchmark is the Linn lp12. This table has been continuously improved. I would then see what you get for more(or less) money. Are you into sound or the emotion of music? Careful cartridge/arm tweaking can make an amazing difference(Note: I believe that Linn says to take off their arm to tighten the cartridge screws.).
toffeng
41 posts
 
Hi!

I have decided for a TW Acustic Raven One. I did have a Micro Seiki 5000 in the 80-ties, and before then various TT's. Silly me sold the Mikro Seiki a few years back. The same happened with my Mørch DP6 Gold... I have to forget.

I have a few thousand lps, and I want a turntable with the possibilty of upgrading. VPI Classic is a bargain as you can add upgrades, and it will play very well indeed especially for its price. The downfall is that you are stucked with one type of arm. Therefore I decided to go for the Raven One with a Graham Phantom II arm.

I did have serious plans buying a TW Acustic Raven 3 / Brinkmann La Grand with a Breuer arm / Basis 2200 with a Vector arm. But it became too expensive for me. The Nordic dealer of TW then told me that Raven One with a superb arm such as Graham Phantom II or Triplanar would give almost the same result, and money left to a good the phono amp and cartridge.

You can always sell the turntable, and keep the arm, cartridge and phonostage. And step up to a better one later.

Sorry for the long tread!

Cheeers, ToffenG
timztunz's avatar
timztunz
78 posts
 
Don't be sorry man! Be happy! Vinyl Lives!
david12
1,454 posts
 
toffeng I spoke to Thomas at the London show a year ago and he said the One gives you 95% of the performance of the AC for, what, about half the price.
If you want to save a bit more on the arm, he uses an Ortofon 309 on his one and says, again, it is only a few percentage points off the Phantom, or Triplanar. I use an Ortofon on my One and am very happy with it
maxx1973 OP
34 posts
 
Everyone,

Thanks a lot about all the feeback. Since it's generally impossible for my to auction every interesting turntable, arm, cartridge combination + phone stage at the same dealer I do need to make a pre selection based on the experiences people have on here. Appreciate it

Out of interest, has anyone experience with the Bergmann turntable? It looks pretty nice.
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