Brinkmann LaGrange - is the upgrade to Balance worthwhile?

[mondie]

Since 2015 I have owned a LaGrange, I bought it ex-demo and it's from the last few made in 2013 and is mounted with an 11" Kuzma 4Point.

I hope somebody may have experience with both LaGrange and Balance as I am trying to decide whether Balance offers sonic improvements over LaGrange. My choice:

1) Keep the LaGrange and add the Sinus motor from the Balance and a RoNtiii

2) Trade the LaGrange and replace it with a Balance with RoNtiii, retaining my 4Point.

Option 2 is about a £6k additional outlay. The LaGrange has the same bearing and will have the same motor as the Balance. Brinkmann themselves say the LaGrange with upgrades will "come very close to Balance" but I was hoping some owners may be able to offer their experience on the two decks. Very close is good enough for me but does this mirror others' experiences?

You can buy a lot of records for £7k

Cheers Simon

 

[benito]

lotushifi has a

Brinkmann Balance + 12.1 Tonearm

£14,995

That may fill the £7k

 

[mondie]

I may have spotted that, benito

 

[Kcin]

I have had both. Still have the Balance.

You will be hard pressed to find a table like the La Grange at any reasonable price . Is the Balance better? Sure perhaps a little quieter. The La Grange sounds a little bit more energetic than the Balance.

For 7K knowing what I know ... I would not do it. Btw. the Sinus motor may not be able to be added to the La Grange - you have to check as the height is different and won't line up with the track on the platter. There were running changes to platters and motor pods so you may have one that works... have to check with factory.

If you don't have a Ront for your La grange that will make a profound improvement. Otherwise if you have cash in your pocket , think about cartridges- they will make more of perceived difference than La grange to Balance. Or even better, find your way to a Kuzma Sapphire- it is stunning and will make you weep. I've had one on my system , my Balance. That is where I am going next.

I don't know where I read it, however, what I heard was that the La grange was removed from the Brinkmann line up because it was too close in performance to the Balance and that they needed to separate the price points and performance from a marketing point of view. The La Grange was dropped and the Spyder was born- more universal - but lighter platter and IMO not as accomplished as the La grange.

If you need a Ront for the La grange I know where one exists

 

[mondie]

Thank you, Koin, yours is the voice of experience I hoped to find.

I too have read that LaGrange was stopped because it was too close to the revised Balance. With the same bearing and Sinus motor there is very little mechanical difference between the two. The platters are both are 90mm thick but the LaGrange is bevelled so it weighs a few kg less, plus the chassis on the Balance looks like it may be ~0.5" thicker, and that's about it AFAIK. My cartridge is a ZYX Ultimate Exceed 4D which is fantastic. Will do some reading on the Sapphire as I am not familiar with it.

The Spyder version of the Sinus motor is offered as an upgrade by Brinkmann so I assume this has the correct height.

If the RoNt is in the UK I would be interested to know more please via PM.

Thanks again

 

[Kcin]

Thank you, Koin, yours is the voice of experience I hoped to find.

I too have read that LaGrange was stopped because it was too close to the revised Balance. With the same bearing and Sinus motor there is very little mechanical difference between the two. The platters are both are 90mm thick but the LaGrange is bevelled so it weighs a few kg less, plus the chassis on the Balance looks like it may be ~0.5" thicker, and that's about it AFAIK. My cartridge is a ZYX Ultimate Exceed 4D which is fantastic. Will do some reading on the Sapphire as I am not familiar with it.

The Spyder version of the Sinus motor is offered as an upgrade by Brinkmann so I assume this has the correct height.

If the RoNt is in the UK I would be interested to know more please via PM.

Thanks again

The RoNt is in NA so won't directly work for you. Finding a separated RoNt on the used market is difficult- but maybe one comes up once or twice a year. Otherwise its a new RoNt III- which if you stay with Brinkmann- IMO is necessary.

Good Luck!

 

[mondie]

Not sure if the voltage is switchable on the RoNt. I will be in NA next month.

Thank you for your advice, I think it was the additional opinion I needed to stay with the LaGrange and upgrading it. I could not understand how the Balance could bring much of a jump in performance given the design similarities.

 

[Kcin]

You will get varying opinions- all I can attest to is that I had both tables on the same system on the same HRS platforms with the same Io phono and the same arm/ cartridge and my opinion was that the La Grange is no slouch.

Now if you want to move way up- AF1, Vyger Indian and above - that is a different story.

 

[uber2]

Thank you, Koin, yours is the voice of experience I hoped to find.

I too have read that LaGrange was stopped because it was too close to the revised Balance. With the same bearing and Sinus motor there is very little mechanical difference between the two. The platters are both are 90mm thick but the LaGrange is bevelled so it weighs a few kg less, plus the chassis on the Balance looks like it may be ~0.5" thicker, and that's about it AFAIK. My cartridge is a ZYX Ultimate Exceed 4D which is fantastic. Will do some reading on the Sapphire as I am not familiar with it.

The Spyder version of the Sinus motor is offered as an upgrade by Brinkmann so I assume this has the correct height.

If the RoNt is in the UK I would be interested to know more please via PM.

Thanks again

I have the LaGrange with sinus motor upgrade. Its housed in the original motor enclosure.

 

[mondie]

Was the upgrade worth it to you, Uber?

 

[uber2]

Was the upgrade worth it to you, Uber?

I got it already upgraded so I wouldn’t know. But the 4phase is the big factor between new gen Balance vs. old gen balance/Lagrange.

 

[mondie]

But the 4phase is the big factor between new gen Balance vs. old gen balance/Lagrange.

Thats sound reinforcement of my thinking

I guess Brinkmann upgraded your existing motor because the Spyder motor was yet to be released. This whole upgrade thought process was started because my LaGrange motor controller developed a fault with the soft touch buttons which turned out to be a blown chip. I never liked the idea of them and am pleased to see the Spyder motor uses physical buttons again. I am not sure if the Balance uses soft touch or mechanical buttons, does anybody know?

 

[Kcin]

The capacitively coupled buttons exist on the Balance as well. The Brinkmann folks always had a very high opinion for the Pabst motors they used- as they became unavailable - they developed the sinus motor out of necessity.

 

[mondie]

I thought I had a plan until last night when Matthias at Brinkmann advised that the Spyder motor is not compatible with LaGrange, after earlier recommending it. I now have to upgrade the LaGrange motor (as per Uber) if I want Sinus which is less appealing.

This gives me some doubt because the LaGrange has capacitive buttons and my unit failed due to static discharge. The fix was replacing a cheap logic chip but the repair cost with shipping is £500. The Spyder motor has mechanical buttons and so eliminates this risk.

Has anybody experienced failures with the capacitive buttons on LaGrange/Balance?