Turntables...

Rega will be pleased to hear you say that!


There's nothing radical about having no suspension.

 

I was being a bit tongue in cheek - there are plenty of non-suspended decks. Is there any form of decoupling at all on the rega? Its been many years since I looked.

 

The Brinkmann's heated bearing is a bit of a standing joke, isn't it? I wouldn't buy one on principle - it's one more (pointless) thing to go wrong.

 

Only a joke to you (and possibly SM). In fact the effect can be easily demonstrated and is of a substantial magnitude. Brinkmann does nothing pointlessly.

 

Why not design the bearing competently in the first place? And what happens if the heating element fails? Is there a thermostat?

 

The bearing is designed competently bub - the heating arrangement further improves the operation. Yes there is a control circuit. The effect of the heating is quite audible and further improves the solidity and the timing of the sound (you can turn the heater off and check the effect). Play rock or dance on the brinkmann and the benefits over the sme will be clear. But of course it is german so you wont want that... especially as I recommend it.

 

Well, I don't think you've done a proper demo of anything if you haven't had the two decks side-by-side in your own system for a few days.

The Brinkmann bearing is not designed competently if its operation characteristics change with temperature.

Newsflash: Hi-end TT owner thinks his deck is "the best in the world" shocker!

The SME will probably fulfil my 'umble aspirations. And no, I definitely don't want a foreign deck. Particularly not a poncy one.

Well, SM thinks the precise opposite, so square that circle.

 

Do you have to have a British hifi then, Devil?

Why is that?

 

Yes I do. I think that hi-fi is one area where Britain leads the World.

 

Nope I just think its better than the SME and without a hint of ponce The heated bearing arrangement is extremely manly I assure you.

It can be squared very easily. You really should listen to the SME before you say too much more, just in case you decide to stay with the linn.

Nobody is going to lend me two decks at a time at home. Be realistic. Only speakers really require home testing.

You do seem to engage in a lot of pointless sniping - especially as you have heard neither deck. Clearly if I say white you will automatically say black and as such the exchange becomes futile. It does seem silly to restrict yourself to bristish hifi. Do you drive a british car too and want to stay out of the EU? Plenty of others can make hifi that is as good as or better than British.

 

I haven't ruled out the possibility that the Linn is better than the SME. OTOH, I think it's unlikely to be.

You are the pointless sniper - the more you go on about the Brinkmann being allegedly better than the SME, the less interested I become. And, in any case, SM prefers the SME to the Brinkmann, so it might be "a matter of opinion".

 

Its an attitude that began long before this thread and is getting rather tiresome and self defeating. As you have heard NEITHER deck you should not form too many judgements. Neither are you an engineer. Something can be competently designed but then improved further by an additional factor. An example might well be the sme v and optional use of the silicone damping tough. At no point have I sniped at you bub, or made silly comments like "poncy", I have restricted my remarks to the issue at hand - I am just saying there are alternatives. Go ahead and ignore it if you wish - but if you do so just solely because I have made the recommendation then you are shooting yourself in the foot.

 

I might not be shooting myself anywhere at all, if the SME is better than the Brinkmann, as SM seems to think.

Anyway life is too short for tedious turntable demos, and discussions like this one.

 

You wont know until you have heard at least one of the decks. Until then your speculation is pointless. Dems can be fun if you let them

 

Surely a competant engineer would design a bearing that had correct tollerances at the required operating temperature, without the need for a night storage heater.
A bearing with a heater does seem somewhat odd, Unesecary engineering?

 

Penance, my thoughts exactly. The heated bearing sounds like an expensive marketing gimmick. For "poncy" read "loaded with silly gimmicks".

Has it occurred to you that I don't mind in the least "not knowing"?

 

The bearing has exceptionally close tolerences already. The bearing heater causes the two parts to come into even closer contact buffered by the hot oil.

Have a look here: http://www.brinkmann-usa.com/lagrangeturntable.php

Its not an uncommon approach in very high tech bearings used in industry to get better tolerences.

Bub - I am sure you dont. Ignorance is bliss. However in this case as you are taking the deck on sale or return I assume you wont be able to avoid knowing what it sounds like. At that point all your previous remarks will likely go right out the window. Bear that in mind. There are no gimmicks on the BLG. Just solid and accepted engineering practice even the heated bearing.

 

Your link just provides marketing puff. Surely heating concentric surfaces forces them further apart?

Do you think the Linn is better than the SME?

And it's not "ignorance" as there appears to be no "right" answer.

 

Ive worked in industry involved with some rather unique bearings, never seen a heated one tho.

 

Am I being silly in thinking the SME in question is just over 1/2 (approx) the cost of the Brinkmann?