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


Dear all,

I'm considering moving into vinyl as all my friends tell me it's the real deal and once you've got it, digital doesn't seem to appealing anymore.

I've being reading some threads on the various brands etc etc and have made a selection of a few players I'm highly interested in.

- Brinkman Balance
- TW Raven Black Night
- Grand Prix Audio Monaco turntable

Obviously the arm/cart has an impact on the sound as well, but which of these tables would to prefer and why? Any other tables I should consider?

I don't have funds for the really expensive turntables, the above brands are the price range I'm thinking of buying.

Appreciate your feedback.

Thanks.
maxx1973
Hi!

I listened to a Brinkman with the Breuer Arm and Breuer EMT pickup plus tube power supply. The rest of the equipment is 4 pcs mono amps from Classe' and Audio Research REF 3. I think he used a Ayre phono amp. B&W 802D loudspeakers. The sound was on the bright side I think, but that is not necessarily the turntable. Its more the total set up and the listening room. However, a great great turntable, but expensive.

You can buy TW Acustic for a fair price from Europe. I have seen some second hand Raven 3's without arms for approx. USD 9.000. With a Graham Phantom II for approx. USD 12,000 in all. Not bad I think.

Good luck!

Cheeers, ToffenG
I tend to agree with Peter, start, with something small and cheap. Not necessarily a Thorens. If you have no vinyl at the moment, I am not sure I would spend north of $20000. Mind you, I can't afford $20000, with 3000LPs. Thats kids at University for you.
I settled on a Raven one, which is much cheaper than the AC and according to the designer, gives you 95% of the performance of the AC. I listened to a number of TW decks at RMAF and all the combinations made some of the best sounds at the show. As Fafion said, I am sure all 3 decks are state of the art and would give years of pleasure. I have heard the Brinkman, not the Monaco, but it comes with a great reputation and reviews.
The problem with vinyl, is it is almost impossible to make meaningful comparisons. No dealer will have all 3 and if he did, they would probably have different arms, cartridges, phono stages etc. If they did have the same arms etc, it still would'nt be a fair comparison, because of synergies between decks, arms and cartridges. So I think, even with careful auditioning, any purchase will be a leap of faith, to an extent
The benchmark is the Linn lp12. This table has been continuously improved. I would then see what you get for more(or less) money. Are you into sound or the emotion of music? Careful cartridge/arm tweaking can make an amazing difference(Note: I believe that Linn says to take off their arm to tighten the cartridge screws.).
Hi!

I have decided for a TW Acustic Raven One. I did have a Micro Seiki 5000 in the 80-ties, and before then various TT's. Silly me sold the Mikro Seiki a few years back. The same happened with my Mørch DP6 Gold... I have to forget.

I have a few thousand lps, and I want a turntable with the possibilty of upgrading. VPI Classic is a bargain as you can add upgrades, and it will play very well indeed especially for its price. The downfall is that you are stucked with one type of arm. Therefore I decided to go for the Raven One with a Graham Phantom II arm.

I did have serious plans buying a TW Acustic Raven 3 / Brinkmann La Grand with a Breuer arm / Basis 2200 with a Vector arm. But it became too expensive for me. The Nordic dealer of TW then told me that Raven One with a superb arm such as Graham Phantom II or Triplanar would give almost the same result, and money left to a good the phono amp and cartridge.

You can always sell the turntable, and keep the arm, cartridge and phonostage. And step up to a better one later.

Sorry for the long tread!

Cheeers, ToffenG