Bryston 3b-sst (pair) to drive midrange and tweeters as part of active setup. Modified by PMC as part of active system
Bryston 7B-SST
Bryston 7B-sst (pair) to drive bass units Modified by PMC as part of active system
PMC MB2-XBD-A
4 way monitor with stands Active - price includes PMC modified amps and crossover
Townshend Seimic sink
TSS stands for speakers and deck.
WNA Custom built
All interconnects, speaker cables and mains cables custom built by WNA. Mains cables include lab grade filters. Compared with and beat nordost reference but only costs 10% of the price.
Bryston 10B
Bryston 10B crossover *2 Modified by PMC as part of active system
Pink Triangle Dacapo II CDP
Integral version of original dacapo and cardinal battery powered dac and transport but updated with 15 years of additional research. Less than a dozen ever made. Uses proprietary discrete dac and filter for a unique sound - never bettered. Built in digital volume control.
I am now using a cullen modified ps audio gcph for the last 2 years
thius feeds into a balanced switch align with the balanced variable output of the cdp - this is then connected to the active crossovers so that no preamp is required
rothwell attenuators only stayed a few months as they degrade the sound too much
currently considering other phono alternatives - would love to try the balance clearaudio reference as this also has built in volume control
System edited: Now using dacapo II CDP - big improvement. Has built in digital volume control. Phono stage is now TEAD MG+ - used with passive volume pot until I can find a phono stage with a built in volume control. Preamp replaced with balanced switch Rothwell 10 db attenuators on inputs of crossovers to reduce gain to improve S/N and increase the usable range of the volume controls
S&B steps and TVC made a huge improvement - as did the new dac! Currently experimenting with loading - may try a few other phono stages for comparison. current setup still a long way ahead of WNA phono.
I am hooking up a transformer next... I heard a tx based unit and it was much better in the bass due to the matching and damping apparently. Its a new area to me.
No not yet - I have heard a lot of bad things about the vyger though both in reviews and from people that have heard it. I may well be listening to the micro seiki when I get back from china. The owner I found has listened to my deck and now I must go and listen to his. He said the Brinkmann sounded better - more accurate detailed and dynamic. I will check it for myself.
The S&B stepup is highly linear unlike most stepups - I wil let you know how it goes. I am skeptical about tubes so far - I am comparing with a tube phono this weekend. Borbely also makes hybrid phono stages but the top unit above mine is solid state.
The BA phono is now assembled - sounds pretty good. Will try it with a stepup pretty soon. I will be upgrading the Django with the S&B core. I have also bought a bel canto dac until the PT is repaired or upgraded. I decided to keep the xbd unit in the end.
That sounds a bit tubey for me. I have seen some reviews that level a lot of criticism at the vger arm. Will be intersting to see if they are still in business in a few years time.
Strange you didnt remember ;) My dealer have a MS - I will check it out for myself but they said it wasnt in the same league and this seems to be backed up by dgads experiences. Given your comments about the pluto are at odds with my experience I am still a bit skeptical. A quick audition should settle the matter!
OK will do! I have some at home! Didnt I send them before and you thought they were too dark?
I have verified the suspension issue for myself. With the air let out the sound quality drops to mid level performance rather than top level as you say. Something like a vibraplane would doubtless raise the performance yet further than my TSS stand.
Other decks I listened to at the same time and with the same system had no such difficulty as the pluto. Like the clearaudio I found it to be like having the insides of my ears sluiced with grit. Perhaps a less accurate cartridge would cover that affect but I like cartridges to be neutral with lots of attack.
I havent looked at air bearings so I cant comment - do you have more information? Usually the advantages are not unequivocable and one set of compromises is being swapped for another - same paralell tracking v fixed tonearms. I will do some research!
I am sure modern tuners that are very good do exist. The thing is that usually designers are just lazy and just rehash designs of the past without trying to improve them. Commercial audio hasnt moved on much in 30 years but that doesnt mean things cant be much better with new tech. This is why I have gone diy for my pre, phono and headamp.
I have heard the pluto - I didnt like it that much. It has performance limitations in the treble I would be unable to live with. Certainly in that respect it can be outperformed by decks of a tenth of the cost like the origin live. I am surprised you would recommend it given its obvious shortfalls. It sounded almost as bad as the clearaudio reference.
The brinkmann has no isolation system and MUST be supported on something that provides that. Granite is insufficient despite common misconception in the hifi community. I have recommendations from Brinkmann himself and personally can vouch for the difference it makes. Without it you have only heard 2/3 of what the Brinkmann is capable. I have experience of numerous high end dealers in this country and have found they rarely know how to get the best out of anything. From what I have seen on the web this is true the world over.
I used to work in engineering research myself - I doubt the MS motor uses anything as sophisiticated as a dc feedback design. Brinkmann also uses a heated bearing system which is unique. The military tolerences of the bearing system are improved further by this technique. Also airline bearings are built with different requirements to precision instrumentation.
I understand you are attached to this deck and as I have had not heard it I cannot comment on that aspect and I will certainly seek one out however I do think you should bear in mind some of the considerations I have raised. They can make a HUGE difference. The isolation issue is like switching from am to fm radio. As I am sure you are aware hifi is rarely straight forward. I have heard similiar claims for other pieces of vintage hifi in the past and they have never lived up to the hype so I am sure you can understand my skepticism ;-).
No I am not a dealer, if I was I would have said. Yes there is a special base - the HRS - but that is meant to go onto the top of an air support platform still! Even Granite transmits resonance! In addition the HRS is recommended by the american dealer network. I have spoken to Brinkmann and he recommends the vibraplane type approach.
In addition my friend has a yorke - with the granite base - and I can also assure that this also works better on a townshend. Yorke also recommends placing the granite base (supplied with the deck) on a vibraplane.
By turning off the air suspension you can judge the difference with and without. It is tremendous and takes the Brinkmann to a whole new level, as was intended from its construction. If you then fit an airtangent (for fair comparison with the microseiki) it will again be transformed. You have to compare both decks like for like on the appropriate support. I suspect things will then look very different.
So the yorke and brinkmann were not sited on an air suspension support? If not then you are not hearing even 50% of what each deck can do. Yorke doesnt make stands. You either need something like a vibraplane an optical microscope active bench or a townshend rack.
Did you use an air support base? If not you didnt hear half what it is capable of. Also - what tool did you use for alignment? For the emt using a wally tractor is critical.
The difference may be the kuzma paralell tracking tonearm - if you fit the top airtangent to the brinkmann the sound quality improves tremedously. I will warrant that the brinkmann will then beat the mico seiki. Also the brinkmann and yorke both need air suspension supports to give their best as they are non suspended. Were the racks used of this type? Without them the sound quality goes down dramatically. In addition the brinkmann emt requires at least 330 pf capacitive loading and exactly 636 ohms to give its best. Without this the performance also drops significantly. The stylus profile of the emt is also untra fine vdh which is very sensitive to VTA as well as alignment - more so than most cartridges. It is certainly worth checking.
I believe they have one at Walrus. They have a huge number of vintage decks. They beleive the brinkmann is the best deck they have ever heard - though I havent heard the micro seiki myself. Maybe I should listen? Did you compare all three decks yourself in the same system?
I have never heard an other deck come close bad the simon yorke series 7 and 8 - even then they are still some way behind. It is accurate neutral and dynamic - female voice sounds like the real thing. Anything else you wish to know?
