Basis Debut Mk v or Walker or Brinkman ?

I own the Brinkmann, (actually, I have a LaGrange, because I wanted two arms--I previously had the Balance) and owned the Basis (and an SME 30, Rockport Capella, and some others). I've kept the Brinkmann for 3 years now, and have no intention of changing. I guess I agree with Jonathan Tinn then, but, I have no experience with the Walker--I no longer want to deal with air bearing arms, I'd just rather listen to music

Like the others above - I am a Walker owner, so my comments should be taken in that context. The Walker is the least fussy playback system I have ever owned. It holds its VTA, speed, VTF settings rock steady. Music does get altered in presentation by minute adjustments to VTA. While the VTA adjustment is not on-the-fly, it is quick and easy. The air bearing arm is no fuss and the compressor pump is as good as it gets, very stable and reliable. Best of all, when you purchase the Walker Proscenium Black Diamond, Lloyd and Fred come and set it up. They don't leave until it's right and they are satisfied. In the year I have owned mine, no adjustments have been neccessary, not even to the speed. All I have changed is the VTA, to suit different LP thicknesses.

The above is my personal choice, but your other choices are world class turntables as well...

Agree with the other Walker owners, I've had mine for 8 years and adjustments are a set and forget affair. Tracking force is something I check every few months (Winds 1/100th gram) and variation is less than 1/100th of a gram this past year.

The pressure pump is adjusted when the table is initially set up and it remains accurate to a fraction of a pound until it dies. My original pressure pump was in near continuous duty for more than 7 years and when it died last year, Lloyd replaced it at his cost.

I think all too often the excellent air suspension designed into the Walker is overlooked. This has evolved over time and is perfectly matched to the mass of the table and compliments the air bearing arm.

I believe the Walker's superior suspension will provide better long term satisfaction than any table with rigid suspension. This is especially true with a suspended floor (pier and beam foundation) or you play music with large dynamic content.

My background experience with other turntables tables. Before I purchased the Walker, my reference was the Versa Dynamics with it's linear track arm. When shopping for the Walker (and in the running as candidates) were two Basis Debut Gold tables (MK4 and MK5) with Graham 2.2 and Air Tangent 10B tonearms.

As for current experience, my best friend and part of my music group bought a Kuzma Stabi XL with Airline arm and set it up along side a Walker that is identical to mine.

His goal was to displace the Walker with the less expensive Kuzma and put the money elsewhere in the system. He and I have tested this for months with various cartridges and cables and as of this week, the Kuzma is up for sale and he has ordered the Black Diamond Arm for his Walker.

I still remember the first moment the needle hit the groove on my Walker. The gain in performance over every other turntable was so great, it took several months before I stopped being amazed at the improvement.

Thank all of you for the time that you took to post your responses.I gather from all this information that the winner by a pretty wide margin is the walker.A complex beast to set up but once set up and dialed in pretty much trouble free and stays put.I will have to talk to lloyd about the black diamond table,it seems like a vinyl lovers last table.
Thanks

All tables you mentioned are top tables, the Basis being the one I would consider the least desirable sonically. You should also look into the new Grand Prix Audio Monaco table. I previously owned the the Basis Debut Gold, SME 20/2, and now have the Grand Prix Monaco. It looks simple, but is very innovative and brilliantly engineered. It is a direct drive that is done right. I did not hear the drawback of belt driven tables until I compared it to a state of the art direct drive with the best speed accuracy available. The improvement is not subtle. Vinyl sounds AMAZING on the Grand Prix / Dynavector 507II / XV1S front end. The level of purity, resolution, transparency, 3D spacious layered image, focus, dynamics, presence, separation and quiet is incredible. Everyone who has heard this front end has had the same amazed reaction. It is something very special.