Brinkmann Bardo vs Transrotor Fat Bob Reference

I merely want to state my experience that cleaner power improves the playback of the Bardo which the OP is interested in.

My Bardo and Sp10mk2 both benefit from cleaner power. THe SP10mk2 even more so. This experience is different from " The Bardo, like all direct-drive turntables, must include its own outboard power supply which needs to be linked to the motor speed via a servo, in order to stablize the drive. In this case, additional AC treatments preceding the motor supply module are unnecessary if not even a bad thing".

My Bardo has the upgraded power supply and the Technics SP10mk2 is from Artisan Fidelity with new caps and more. Both hold speed without and with the power conditioner. In the case of Brinkmann, there are power supply options with both their DDs and BDs which change the sound significantly. Maybe your sp10mk3 has a better designed power supply that takes this out of the equation.

I am in the suburbs not very far from power line with a dedicated subpanels and lines installed by AV solutions. The AC off the wall rages from 119V to 121V. Crude THD measurements is 4%. Unplugged from the wall, the regenerate AC is 120V with 0.8-0.9 THD.

The improvement I hear seems to be more than just speed stability. I suspect that it is related to less vibration of the motor. The noise floor drop away with softer notes played softer and overall increased in dynamic range and more focus. The gains on belt drive are less.

Glai, I apologize if I sounded offensive or aggressive. I thought you had written something to the effect that you "noticed" improved speed stability when you introduced the AC regenerator. This to me meant that you looked at the little strobe device on your SP10 and could see that the orange and black display was noticeably more stable, which is what prompted my remark about capacitors. On the other stuff, it seems we are in agreement.

By the way, please don't laugh, but my SP10 Mk3 is still sitting on the floor in my office/study. I have yet to put the plinth together and have been quite happy with my Kenwood L07D and my Lenco, in the meantime. I did make some progress over the weekend, and there's not much left to do except to drill the armboard.

I tried the Bardo. Almost bought it. Hesitated and ended up buying buying a Simon Yorke

As a recent buyer of a Transrotor Fat Bob, I agree with all that was said about its performance above. Fit and finish is superb, and it is as quiet as I have ever experienced. dynamics are startling. Well worth the purchase price. Currently using a Monster Alpha 1 cartridge. While my listening time has been short, I have not found any area of complaint yet.

03-15-11: Melbguy1
I received this reply directly from Transrotor in response to a question asking why they decided on the belt, as opposed to direct drive approach:

"We chose the belt drive because we think it is the best way not to bring resonances from the motor to the platter. The negative aspect of the belt drive (the belt slip) is compensated by the magnetic drive, the TMD"

I trust the Transrotor turntables are good sound products based on what was commented from earlier posts. I also think the TMD is a clever idea for belt-drive. But I'm surprised by their response to why they chose belt drive. Isn't direct-drive in itself a form of magnetic drive? Just think of the TMD is driven by coils instead of outboard motor using a belt. And if the DD motor is spinning at 33rpm, half Hz, isn't it innately quieter than one or three motors spinning at, say, 300rpm to 1800rpm, isolated by a belt or not? The only noise issue with DD is the quality of the bearing, which applies to ALL turntables. This is just another case of someone who does not understand the workings of direct drive. Let's face it, building quality DD table is expensive and, more importantly, requires a lot of knowledge in electronics beyond just mechanical engineering. I have no problem with them saying they simply prefer the sound of belt-drive, instead of using the, by now, really tiresome argument against DD. The horse is dead, stop beating on it.

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