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 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 ;-).
Brizonbiovizier: no the guy who owns the high-end-shop is an acquaintance of me and one of the top 10 dealers for state-of-the art audio in Germany. He is very pally with Brinkmann and uses the LaGrange table himself as well as the S 7 so he knows very well how to get the best out of both tt´s. We didn´t put the airtangent on the Brinkmann but the Airline which is an equal level. The point is that the bearing of the Micro is far superior to the Yorke and the Brinkmann´s as well as the 15kg. motor used by Micro. As I´m an airline technichian who deals with bearings etc. the Micro bearing is still the best I ever saw (built exactly like a turbine in a jet). And even Brinkmann will tell you that the design and build quality of MS is unmatched. Another very interesting option (and better as Yorke is the top of the line Pluto tt). You should give it a try as well as Micro SX 8000 II is nearly not available in a mint condition. But for more information you can look at www.my-micro.com Regards, Frankpiet
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.
Brizonbiovizier: sorry, there is a special support table available for Yorke and Brinkmann performs best (according to the Brinkmann dealer)when directly put on a massive Grantie base. It´s really nice how you fight for that product - are you a dealer? If you should ever come along to Germany I´ll try to arrange an audition for you - then everything becomes very obvious.
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.
Brizonbiovizier: the dealer is an absolute analog crazy guy - by the way: if you look at the used prices for a SX 8000 II (US $ 12.000 - 15.000) you can imagine the status of this tt (a yorke you´ll easily get for 7.500,-). The Simon Yorke was used with all the possible stands/tweaks etc. from Yorke. But even equipped with a Graham Phantom the SX 8000 II was WAY better then the Yorke and Brinkmann with various arms due to its superior bearing and design. Nothing comes close to an airbearing with vacuum sucction - the best tt´s ever build have all got this feature (Micro, Forsell, Walker, Rockport). Except of the Rockport I´ve listened to all quite extensively. SX 8000 II is better then Forsell, equal to Walker. Micro SZ-1T Ultimate is even better and probably along side with the Rockport the best tt ever.
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.
Brizonbiovizier: we played around a lot e.g. mount every cartridge on every tonearm involved in the shoutout; exchanged tonearms; used different support bases, airconditionned the room down to 23 degree celsius, etc. The Micro is unbeatable by Brinkmann and Simon Yorke - you can be VERY sure of that as the dealer lost 500,- on that bet (I said the Micro is far better as the tt´s he carries and he said not - we proved (four experienced listeners) that he is wrong and that I was right).
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 will have to ask him. Not sure, I know it cost him a Penny. since then he has become a dealer. He now sells a few different brands and used to sell Simon Yorke (after owning it, switching through a few other tables and then purchasing it again). He then became a dealer & started to sell Simon Yorke. He had a hard time making money selling as there was no margin so he shifted lines but still says it is one of the best turntables he has ever heard.
Dgad: it was in the same system(s) at the same day. It depends on which Micro your friend owned. The SX 8000 MK II with the external flywheel and the 28kg. stainless steel platter with air-bearing and vacuum suction is VERY rare and was second to the SZ-1T Ultimate. I would wonder if your friend exchanged that particular one to the Simon Yorke as the differences were HUGE (MUCH more dynamics, MUCH quieter, DEEPEST baseline ever, MUCH deeper and wider soundstage, more detail and transparency).
Did you compare the Brinkan to Micro in the same exact system or where they in different systems using similar speakers. I have a friend who switched from a top level Micro to a Yorke S7 proclaiming it to be better, but also considered it a close call. He did sell his Micro years ago for the Yorke.
yes, I did at the dealers private listening room together with the dealer and two other guys.. system 1 was: Boulder 2008, Boulder 1012, Boulder 1060. Speakers were: Avalon Eidolon N Diamond, Audioplan Konzert III, ACapella Violon High and Ayon Audio Seagull Ceramique. System 2: Brinkmann Marconi & Brinkmann Mono´s, Southerland PHD/Ayre P-5xe, speakers as before. Cables were Tara Labs Zero/Omega as well as Acoustic Zen Absolute/Silver Reference II and Shunyata Phoenix/Altair. Power cords: Electraglide Epiphany and Shunyata Anaconda Vx. Micro Seiki was equipped with Kuzma Airline lineartracking tonearm, external flywheel and Temper W. as well as Dynavector DV 507 with Dynavector TeKaitora (2nd base). Brinkmann came with Brinkmann tonearm and Brinkmann EMT system as well as Graham 2.2 with Lyra Titan (2nd base). Simon Yorke came with Simon Yorke tonearm and Jan Allearts top of the line cartridge. The SX 8000 II was FAR ahead of the two. Listening session was one whole saturday (8 hours of intense listening). But to be honest. To own the SX 8000 II equipped like that and in mint condition you´ll have to pay at least US $ 25.000,00. Brinkmann and Simon Yorke ist 2/3 or half the price.
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?
Brizonbiovizier: try to get hold of a vintage Micro Seiki SX 8000 MK II - I´promise you, you´ll throw away either the Brinkmann as well as the Simon Yorke S 7. The Micro betters both by quite a big margin (my local dealer carries both Simon Yorke and Brinkmann as well as Clearaudio, Transrotor, VPI, Linn and Rocksan). He said he never heard vinyl THAT good..
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?
would love to know your feelings on this table,arm,cartridge setup! i'm in the market for a new rig and a friend STRONGLY suggests hearing this before auditioning the "usual suspects" any help or insight would be GREATLY appreciated!! thanks for your time, jake
Waiting on my White Noise Phono stage as you suggested. Once I get it I will let you know. I had him customize to be battery based. Try to get some pictures up of your system. Would love to see it.
