Turntables...

In the States there are probably more SME decks with Graham arms mounted on them than the global total of Brinkmanns and Yorkes put together.

I too look forward to reading Bub's findings. I think he should borrow a Koetsu and a Vinyl One Ref though.

 

It means that so far the emt is the best cartridge I have heard - but that I havent heard the titan and xv1 yet. They may well beat the EMT. They both cost more than twice as much however.

SM - I would be interested to know how you get those figures. The fashion for grahams on sme comes from a reviewer doesnt it? I obtained my sme V from someone who put a graham on his sme 20.

 

Yes. There are a few other cartridges out there.

 

BBV, have you listened to an SME arm with the infamous removal of bearing yoke from the top and also a change in phono cables. Both make a difference, the yoke making the musicians sound more dynamic as if they have had a pay rise, a good phono making stock VdH D501 cable sound both shouty, shut-in and prety awful IMHO and a view shared by some others out there. I post this only due to curiosity with whether views formed on SME arms are with these seeming own goals. It's how SME supply their products I know but those converted swear the SME arms are otherwise held back - including myself.

 

The phono cable was changed yes. It was the gold standard sme arm from an SME 20 which has the better wiring and selected bearing. I didnt try removing the yoke. Dont get me wrong the sme v is a great arm and I lived with one for 8 years. But the Brinkmann 10.5 is better (for me!).

 

I don't want to remove the yoke. I've ordered the Series V with arm cable upgrade.

There's no point comparing one deck with another using different cartridges.

 

I tried a selection of cartridges on the brinkmann arm and deck. Including vdh, lyra, transfiguration and dynavector as well as the emt. As you say you can only change one variable at a time.

 

Did you try the Brinkmann in the same deck as the SME?

 

I've also read that Graham arms are very popular on SME decks in the US.

I can understand SM mentioning the Koetsu carts, especially with a deck as neutral as the SME. With my limited experience with these carts they retrieve amazingly subtle details which need a quality deck to fully appreciate them.

But I like the way the Akiva makes music, it's a quality tracker and fills the gap between the Helikon and the Titan.

BBV - did you ever get a chance to listen to the Kuzma airbearing parallel tracker on the Brinkmann ?

 

SM - you mean the EMT cartridge? No I didnt but I head the helikon and transfiguration in both I think off the top of my head. Or did you mean the deck? No I didnt as the deck was stolen. However I have heard the breuer and an sme on the same deck and the breuer was much better. I have also compared the brinkmann and the breuer on the same deck and the brinkmann was much better. As you know in the real world shops wont try every combo.

Griffo - no I didnt but I understand it has been tried. i spoke to the kuzma distributor but he was a w****r so I gave up. Not worth the hassle.

 

I don't suppose that anything is "much better" than anything else, at this level.

 

You would be surprised. The airtangent is "much better" than anything else. To be fair I think at this level everything that takes a similiar approach sounds similiar, you have to do something radically different to get a quantum leap forward (heated bearing anyone?). IME even the top decks sound very different to each other - perhaps indicating that all of them are still a long way away from the best that can be achieved.

 

Yes, I would be surprised.

I think you've done too many demos. Quite how you seem to manage to remember precise details about them is beyond me.

Good systems sound pretty similar to me.

 

I said decks not systems. I think vinyl is still capable of more than the best decks can currently give. Not so true for the electronics. True for speakers though and they also sound very different.

 

Jolly good.

 

When is the sme arriving?

 

February, I think.

 

If a heated bearing represented a quantum leap forward, I would have preferred the deck to the SME. I didn't. And that was the 20/2a. The 30/2a would be even further refined yet does not feature the heated bearing. Puzzling. It does of course have a number of equally radically different features such as the damped suspension towers.

 

Far better and more radical not to have a suspension at all.

Perhaps you can describe where you heard the brinkmann and what the rest of the kit was?