Moving into vinyl. Brinkman, TW Raven, GrandPrix??

I think, you should try to listen to some Turntables and get a own impression. The pricing of turntables (above) have absolutely no connection to brain, science and performance. A 20k table is not better than a 8k table when that one is made better. Most owners want to believe that their 20k investment (with a nice rebate of course) was done right. The main reason, why such threads are always coming up again and will never end.
It depends on the customer, it is like being in a small boat in the sea, one day the wind is from this direction, the next day from that direction...
You can read the technical papers from Basis, it shows that knowledge, science and precision can be important :-), some think different.
It is a long journey...

Sorry wasn't aware that the Black Night was that much more expensive. I guess the Raven AC would be more towards the money I would be able to spend.

Off course I will try to listen to the tables as well, but I like the advise of the A'gon people to make a upfront selection and in order to get an idea which table would probably suit me. Same goes for tweaking since I read some tables require much more "maintenance and tweaking" then other.

The Brinkman with Breuer and Raven AC with Graham Phantom both seem proven set-ups which work well. Wonder what difference in sound they have.

I listened to the Raven AC with Graham arm once and thought the sound was good, but no "wow factor". Saying that, the rest of the system saw only so-so, therefore it probably wasn't a fair judgement to base my opinion on.

Just today I use the Search feature on the Gon's home page and got to a TW-Acustic Raven One, brass arm board, a Graham Phantom MKI and then a WSS Silver Phono Cable $7200.00 obo.

Brinkmann LaGrange with one year warranty Ad, but it does't have an arm included. P.S. There is a Brinkmann Tube Power Supply available. Check to see if it works with this Brinkmann. It is the sexist speed controller I've ever seen and makes Brinlmann TT's sound even better. Add your favorite arm.

Both are wonderful tables and are 95%title TT's as compare to the absolute best. They sound more a like than radically different.

If you buy either brand your TT's life time needs would be solved.

You should check out Kuzma, either the Stabi Reference or the Kuzma Reference. My Stabi Reference was clearly better than a Raven in a shootout with the same arm, SME V and Triplanar 7U with both a Transfiguration Orpheus and Miyajima Shilabe.
Mark

To really get a sense of how the tables sound relative to each other, you will need to audition them in the same system which is almost impossible. Find a good dealer whom you trust, who has the same equipment that you currently have and ask his advice. You may also be able to ask some of your analog friend to bring their tables to you to audition in your system. This will be both fun and very informative. As others have said, it is a long journey, but possibly a very rewarding one. Don't forget a good record cleaning machine and fluids. Think of the whole thing as a sub system of the rest of your system.