Arm and cartridge for Brinkmann Balance

I recently auditioned at a friend's system Kuzma 4 Point/Dynavector xv-1t, Graham Phantom II Supreme/Lyra Atlas, and Graham Phantom II/Lyra Titan i. It was not Brinkmann table though. It was Raven and another table (that I forgot its name). All these combos sounded good.

However, in his system, the Phantom II Supreme/Atlas combo on the Raven was the best. The Graham Phantom seemed to be compatible with many different cartridges. Before the audition, I expected the Kuzma/xv-1t would come out on top since Michael Fremer said Kuzma 4 Point was better than the Phantom II Supreme. Much to my surprise, even the Phantom/Titan i was better sounding than the Kuzma/xv-1t combo. I am not sure if there was an incompatiblity issue between the Kuzma and xv-1t. My friend told me the same observations after I did the audition. Interesting stuff.

I don't have much experience with the Brinkmann table. I heard it once at another friend's system long time ago and it seemed to be neutral sounding. I would think any combos you listed above or the combos I mentioned here would be good sounding with the Brinkmann. Of course, personal taste plays critical role. I personally like the Phantom/Atlas combo which has great timber, texture, imaging, staging, and musical flow. The Atlas is an excellent cartridge that can compete toe-to-toe with the Goldfinger Statement ( that I own). In fact, the Atlas could be better value since the Statement costs more on the assumption that they sound very close to each other.

Dear Lapporte: Brinkmann is perhaps the only analog manufacturer that that has the " only one solution ": TT/tonearm/cartridge.

IMHO that's an advantage over other alternatives because in theory exist a true synergy in between those items in theory the voicing of those items were made it with all together till they achieved Brikmann audio/music targets.

If I was you that is the first road I take it, hear it and decide if could be worth to test other alternatives.

Only from the tonearms and cartridges you name it when you combined in between ( tonearms with cartridges ) you have over 40K different alternatives. Obviously you can't test each one in all your life.
Additional you can find out other very good cartridges that can fulfil your targets, the VdH Colibri is one example, can compete with the ones you name it and like the Colibri some others out there. Btw, the Dyna ( I'm refering to the XV-1s not the t one that's a little different and for some is alittle on dark side. ) and Colibri not only are top performers but " tonearm friendly ".

Btw, music dynamic range comes in the recording and to hear it in all its glory we need that at each audio system link we add and lost nothing. This situation unfortunatelly can't exist each system link adds and throught it losted recording information through different kind of distortions that degraded the signal.

Well, a good damped tonearm like the Kuzma you name it has lower distortions than other tonearms that likes Syntax. He said is: soft, but IMHO it is not what is is that have lower distortions. Distortions higher distortions normally are heard as " extendended dynamic range " but it is not, that is a false appreciation.

As lower distortions in any audio system link as better and real natural dynamic range we have and we can enjoy.

About the tonearms you name it their designs are really different and you have there unipivot and fixed bearing designs and at this regards normally the unipivots we tend to thing are more faster and alive than other kind of designs but are really faster/alive?, this is a subject for other ocasion/thread.

Have fun on your hunting.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

I would add the Moerch DP-8 to your list. Spectacular bass, and detail retrieval. An added advantage of the Moerch line is the exchangeable armwands, which can be ordered for different effective masses. This makes it easy to run many many types of carts on the same tonearm, with switching as easy as loosening a nut and adjusting VTF.

And Mehran at Sorasound (the US importer) is a real pleasure to deal with. A nice bonus.

I have not listened on the Brinkmann, but within a short period I heard in my home on the Acoustic Signature Final Tool Mk II (not the ultimate table, but certainly far from the worst), the SME V (first tonearm on the table), Triplanar (whatever iteration it was 4 years ago), and the 4-point (still have). Cartridge was/is ZYX Universe for all arms. The SME V had many excellent qualities, but I felt it was lacking a little in bass. The Triplanar sounded kind of exciting, but a little "fuzzy" compared to the SME, with a less precise soundstage (not meaning to disparage it in any way, all these arms sounded wonderful). When I listened to the 4-point no particular quality jumped out at me, but the more I listened to it, the more I felt the arm was just "getting out of the way," and that's why I still have it. I think I might agree with Michael Fremer that this arm maybe sounds a little like a master tape - adds little, subtracts little, it is what it is. Clearly not for for everyone, but if you're seeking musical truth, maybe a good choice.