Vienna

VIP/Donor
After many months of going back and forth, between different turntables and many auditionings (TW-Acoustics, Techdas AF3 premium, Kronos Pro, Kuzma XLDC, Sikora) I took the decision to go for the Brinkmann Balance, which I had never auditioned properly before.
The decision wasn’t easy, but Denis‘ (DCC) and Ked’s experience was the decisive factor besides Fremer’s reviews.
During this process among others Helmut Brinkmann had told me ‘... We made the turntable in the thought of a musical instrument, not as a spaceship, if you allow this comment. ...’

Two weeks ago my Brinkmann Balance was delivered, together with the RONT tube power supply and the HRS/Brinkmann platform.
From the very first interaction with the Balance (During unboxing and installation), I was impressed with the high quality level, the precision and the engineering of this legendary turntable.

I was sure that Balance would make a positive improvement on my analogue sound, but I wasn’t prepared for the extend. This turntable has introduced such a fundamental improvement to my system, at such a degree that is shocking. My system is literally re-born with Brinkmann Balance.

From the first listening moment I was blown by the full sound, the exceptional sound stage and positioning, the spatial detail, the balanced detailed sound, the spatial sense of all dimensions and that bass....everything that I was dreaming of.

I believe that this turntable has it all, the charming looks, the pace, the dynamics, the most quite operation possible with the blackest blacks and inexistent noise/vibration levels.

If I would need to use a simple description I would confidently say that listening to the Brinkmann Balance is like driving a Rolls Royce.

Since its installation there was not a single moment that I wasn’t totally ecstatic with the sound. I will certainly revert with more details on the sound of my BB with the Kuzma 4P/ Lyra Etna.

At the meantime I would like to thank Denis (@dcc) and Ked (@bonzo75) for their accurate and true descriptions and reviews.
 

Kcin

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Mar 27, 2016
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That is a great table, congratulations. When you get comfortable with the unit- for fun- disconnect the Ront and let it run on the SS power supply only. You will be amazed at what the tube supply contributes.
 
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Tango

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Mar 12, 2017
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After many months of going back and forth, between different turntables and many auditionings (TW-Acoustics, Techdas AF3 premium, Kronos Pro, Kuzma XLDC, Sikora) I took the decision to go for the Brinkmann Balance, which I had never auditioned properly before.
The decision wasn’t easy, but Denis‘ (DCC) and Ked’s experience was the decisive factor besides Fremer’s reviews.
During this process among others Helmut Brinkmann had told me ‘... We made the turntable in the thought of a musical instrument, not as a spaceship, if you allow this comment. ...’

Two weeks ago my Brinkmann Balance was delivered, together with the RONT tube power supply and the HRS/Brinkmann platform.
From the very first interaction with the Balance (During unboxing and installation), I was impressed with the high quality level, the precision and the engineering of this legendary turntable.

I was sure that Balance would make a positive improvement on my analogue sound, but I wasn’t prepared for the extend. This turntable has introduced such a fundamental improvement to my system, at such a degree that is shocking. My system is literally re-born with Brinkmann Balance.

From the first listening moment I was blown by the full sound, the exceptional sound stage and positioning, the spatial detail, the balanced detailed sound, the spatial sense of all dimensions and that bass....everything that I was dreaming of.

I believe that this turntable has it all, the charming looks, the pace, the dynamics, the most quite operation possible with the blackest blacks and inexistent noise/vibration levels.

If I would need to use a simple description I would confidently say that listening to the Brinkmann Balance is like driving a Rolls Royce.

Since its installation there was not a single moment that I wasn’t totally ecstatic with the sound. I will certainly revert with more details on the sound of my BB with the Kuzma 4P/ Lyra Etna.

At the meantime I would like to thank Denis (@dcc) and Ked (@bonzo75) for their accurate and true descriptions and reviews.
If one day you are bored with the sound of BB/Kuzma, I recommend you get a used original SAT. You will get your sound to another level while not divert away from the direction of Kuzma. Marc Gomez also likes the BB/SAT combo very much.

Correction: I don't really mean bored. I mean if you want to pursue further into hearing more from the groove with refinement.
 
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Vienna

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Vienna

VIP/Donor
That is a great table, congratulations. When you get comfortable with the unit- for fun- disconnect the Ront and let it run on the SS power supply only. You will be amazed at what the tube supply contributes.

Thank you. I may try this in the future.
 

Vienna

VIP/Donor
If one day you are bored with the sound of BB/Kuzma, I recommend you get a used original SAT. You will get your sound to another level while not divert away from the direction of Kuzma. Marc Gomez also likes the BB/SAT combo very much.

Correction: I don't really mean bored. I mean if you want to pursue further into hearing more from the groove with refinement.

Denis has specifically referred to the SAT tonearm for this tt; and I am aware of the fact that Marc Gomez is suggesting very often his Tonearm with BB.
it’s an upgrade which I will soon have.
 

Vienna

VIP/Donor
Trying to understand the reason behind the sound improvement of that scale, I made some measurements using my humble reference tools in order to compare the Brinkmann Balance with my previous setup.

I begun by measuring the vibrations.

the base vibration when everything is switched off, measured on top of the upper granite base is shown at the photo below:

52FC0C1B-5B7B-48E5-8E62-539B094B5C63.jpeg

the vibration measurements of my previous setup with the factory AC synchronous Hurst Motors:

E37B6C71-6D8F-498C-BB7B-379C4168EB56.jpeg

with the Hurst motors besides the high vibration measurements I could detect resonances at 13Hz, 14Hz and 23Hz.

Later by having the Hurst AC synchronous motors replaced by Anaheim BLDC Motors the vibration measurements were improved with direct positive impact on the sound :

A0A9D0BD-C010-4D9B-BEE0-C518D88C42AA.jpeg


however still some harmonics were detected.

The great surprise came with the Brinkmann Balance vibration measurements, my reference tool couldn’t detect vibrations or any harmonics above my base level- to be fair the HRS platform was introduced too :


584968A3-5257-410A-9F0D-91BB5F981600.jpeg


later the same dramatically reduced vibration measurements of the Brinkmann Balance tt, were cross verified by using the AM software and test Lps:

2C867E92-5C87-4B52-99C3-749686C3544D.jpeg

Brinkmann Balance wow/flutter measurements are also impressive for a belt driven turntable (AM Wow measurement Test is based on Audio Engineering Society standards, which require the sampling of a minimum of 30 sec. of test signals to complete ):

BEA1E374-295D-4DB8-B65D-74164DE809DB.jpeg

my understanding is that due: to the over engineered bearing, the very precise tolerances, the superbly balanced -high mass platter , the high inertia, the 4 phase motor but also the genius/effective resonance management, Helmut Brinkmann has achieved, since 1985, to design and implement an outstanding, high performance turntable of unique beauty and superb sound which can easily beat, way more expensive and complicated turntables. It’s not a surprise that the Balance is still successfully standing the test of time
 
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Klonk

Well-Known Member
Mar 4, 2012
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Congrats on your new TT. At one stage I had exactly the same vinyl setup, apart from the cartridge, which in my case was a Transfigurations Orpheus, into all Nagra gear with Verity Parsifal speakers. I still fondly remember this setup.
 
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bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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It would be good to see the resonance and the vibration numbers of other tables for a comparison.
 
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dcc

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Nov 4, 2012
650
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Hi,

I can now officially congratulate you for this acquisition. I am glad that the BB is meeting your expectations which I understand were quite high after the misfortune you had with your previous setup.

Kcin and Tang have nailed it perfectly.

The tube power supply brings a lot to the combo. When I got my BB, I decided to test it during the two first weeks without the tube power supply. When I added it into the mix, I could not believe the difference it made. By the way, a good power cable will also bring some benefit.

Finally, the SAT tonearm will upscale the BB to the ultimate level. I told you that I have a friend with the exact same combo as yours (BB and Kuzma 4 Point). Once he heard the SAT on my BB, he contacted Marc and ordered one. It is addictive.

Best,

Denis
 
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bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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Hi Denis, what is the rest of the system of your friend with the BB and the SAT?
 

dcc

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Nov 4, 2012
650
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Continental Europe -
His SAT has not been delivered yet. It is his home office system (no jokes) with a pair of small bookshelf Focus Audio loudspeakers and Octave electronics (amp, preamp and phono stage). The cart is a Transfiguration Proteus. His BB is fitted with two tonearms. The second tonerarm and the cart are from Ikeda. He‘s got a second larger system around a Da Vinci TT as well.
 
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Vienna

VIP/Donor
Simply wow Savvas - truly superior results - those numbers are excellent. And the table looks gorgeous - thanks for the pictures. I loved how you casually mentioned adding the HRS platform! What is the tool (not the AM) you used to acquire the vibration measurements?
Thank you Tim besides AM I am using for quite some time now the ViBsensor ver 2.0.0
 

Kcin

VIP/Donor
Mar 27, 2016
655
826
275
Canada
I'd be very interested in any comparisons or observations you may have between the BB and the Tech Das AF3P

Thanks.
 

bazelio

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
2,493
1,745
345
California
Congrats again, Savvas. I had an early preview of @Vienna 's BB offline and have now heard a couple recordings. We discussed my observations on the phone just a few minutes ago, and despite the low quality mic and recording compression, the details I had picked out were confirmed by Vienna as consistent with the in-room experience. TL;DR - in my estimation, "balance" is the right name for this table. It is devoid of artifice. And it's a platform that should scale in any direction he wishes to take it in the future. But with that said, my advice is to forget the next thing and enjoy the music!
 
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miniguy

Well-Known Member
Dec 18, 2013
437
168
350
San Diego area
Trying to understand the reason behind the sound improvement of that scale, I made some measurements using my humble reference tools in order to compare the Brinkmann Balance with my previous setup.

I begun by measuring the vibrations.

the base vibration when everything is switched off, measured on top of the upper granite base is shown at the photo below:

View attachment 67767

the vibration measurements of my previous setup with the factory AC synchronous Hurst Motors:

View attachment 67768

with the Hurst motors besides the high vibration measurements I could detect resonances at 13Hz, 14Hz and 23Hz.

Later by having the Hurst AC synchronous motors replaced by Anaheim BLDC Motors the vibration measurements were improved with direct positive impact on the sound :

View attachment 67769


however still some harmonics were detected.

The great surprise came with the Brinkmann Balance vibration measurements, my reference tool couldn’t detect vibrations or any harmonics above my base level- to be fair the HRS platform was introduced too :


View attachment 67770


later the same dramatically reduced vibration measurements of the Brinkmann Balance tt, were cross verified by using the AM software and test Lps:

View attachment 67771

Brinkmann Balance wow/flutter measurements are also impressive for a belt driven turntable (AM Wow measurement Test is based on Audio Engineering Society standards, which require the sampling of a minimum of 30 sec. of test signals to complete ):

View attachment 67772

my understanding is that due: to the over engineered bearing, the very precise tolerances, the superbly balanced -high mass platter , the high inertia, the 4 phase motor but also the genius/effective resonance management, Helmut Brinkmann has achieved, since 1985, to design and implement an outstanding, high performance turntable of unique beauty and superb sound which can easily beat, way more expensive and complicated turntables. It’s not a surprise that the Balance is still successfully standing the test of time
What was your previous turntable?
 

Vienna

VIP/Donor

Vienna

VIP/Donor
Lyra Etna Lambda Introduced a very nice sound improvement.
The sound got more body and juice. The ? has all Etna’s qualities but this cartridge is way more musical and detailed. The sound is fuller. i have noticed great improvement to the lower and upper bass as well as to the mids.
this is the best Etna ever.
i have tried this cartridge on my gone Avenger but couldnt show its qualities at that platform.
Paired successfully with my Kuzma 4P, the ?, produced stellar measurements too (with AM): 31.55db channel separation, VTA 1.18 (Right Channel) 1.14 (Left Channel) Antiskating is starting at 0.16 to reach 0.22 on both channels.
these results were obtained straight after the optical alignment with AS smartractor , proving high manufacturing and assembly quality.

9472AD8D-D938-4790-91F3-C0ED66A445C2.jpeg
 
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