Joining the system: Brinkmann Taurus turntable - stunning industrial design with superb performance

[Kuoppis]

the kuzma stabi r is a belt drive tt...

while on the subject and given your experience with the viella and now the taurus, it would be interesting to hear your practical thoughts on direct vs belt drive turntables at this level.

Comparing those two, you can’t say they’re night and day. They’re more similar than different, and both great ‘tables. Both also feature high-mass platters, which even out any fluctuations.

But of course the belt is causing vibrations. Being pulled on one side, and looser on the other, creates a very slightly uneven motion. Similarly, direct drives are typically prone to cogging, except in the Taurus that is eliminated through the low torque motor.

But the Taurus’ direct drive has some fluidity to it, a flow and a jump factor, which makes it nicely dynamic. I very much like it.




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[Kuoppis]

Gorgeous turntable that will be awesome for many years ..... Enjoy!!

Appreciate it. The mechanical build quality of Brinkmann TTs is absolutely awesome.


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[gabweb]

Fantastic turntable, looks awesome.
Heard the bardo and the balance, I’m sure the new Taurus is wonderful like his brothers

 

[Kuoppis]

Fantastic turntable, looks awesome.
Heard the bardo and the balance, I’m sure the new Taurus is wonderful like his brothers

Thanks, very kind. The Taurus is a bigger brother of the Bardo, and features the same chassis as the reference level Balance. Brinkmann say it’s their best direct drive yet.

 

[u-sound]

wow kuoppis!
brinkman is pure love about what he does from day 1., every single product for decades.
enjoy it....and you might go for full loom brinkmann now

 

[Kuoppis]

That’s right, my sources are all Brinkmann now, and I like it.

No plans to change the Soulution amps though, as I am very pleased with their performance.


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[Kuoppis]

In comparison to the Brinkmann magnetic Direct Drive motor, here’s a picture of the sinus motor for the belt drives. It is derived from the DD motor and uses a 4-Phase/ 12 Pole circuitry.

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[Kuoppis]

Optimized the Taurus’ setup once more today with a new tool: the Clearaudio IEC cartridge alignment gauge. This one is significantly better, and more accurate than the Feickert Protractor, which actually is not accurate at all.

And with such a precision instrument as the Taurus, any inaccuracy shows. Significant improvement in definition, colors of sound, body, dynamics, dimensionality, and sound-staging.

I’m listening to Ahmad Jamal/ Saturday Morning right now, really fantastic.


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[FDPDK]

Kuoppis what a great turntable you got there and the new alignment tool , i am sure it is pure joy. Huge Congratulations

 

[Kuoppis]

Kuoppis what a great turntable you got there and the new alignment tool , i am sure it is pure joy. Huge Congratulations

Many thanks Flemming, it sure is a lots of fun right now [emoji3].


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[Pallen]

the kuzma stabi r is a belt drive tt...

while on the subject and given your experience with the viella and now the taurus, it would be interesting to hear your practical thoughts on direct vs belt drive turntables at this level.

Like Kuoppis, I too am an ex-owner of the AMG Viella V12 with matching Turbo tonearm. Over the last year, I've been able to listen to several highend turntables covering direct drive, rim drive and belt drive designs. As has been said by people who know a lot more than me, it can be misleading to make generalisations based on drive type. There are so many TT design parameters that affect the sound. I suggest you read Ken Kessler's opening comments in his UK review of the VPI HW-40 (HiFi News). He makes some observations on the tradeoff's of DD's vs belt drives that are consistent with what I've heard.

Kuoppis - congratulations! The Taurus was on my list too but in the end I decided it was just a bit more than I wanted to pay, and I did not want to have to economise on the tonearm too much. I have read your comments on the Brinkmann 12" tonearm with great interest, and after owning an AMG arm, I can relate to what you've said. Enjoy!

 

[Kuoppis]

Like Kuoppis, I too am an ex-owner of the AMG Viella V12 with matching Turbo tonearm. Over the last year, I've been able to listen to several highend turntables covering direct drive, rim drive and belt drive designs. As has been said by people who know a lot more than me, it can be misleading to make generalisations based on drive type. There are so many TT design parameters that affect the sound. I suggest you read Ken Kessler's opening comments in his UK review of the VPI HW-40 (HiFi News). He makes some observations on the tradeoff's of DD's vs belt drives that are consistent with what I've heard.

Kuoppis - congratulations! The Taurus was on my list too but in the end I decided it was just a bit more than I wanted to pay, and I did not want to have to economise on the tonearm too much. I have read your comments on the Brinkmann 12" tonearm with great interest, and after owning an AMG arm, I can relate to what you've said. Enjoy!

Thank you for sharing your insights Alan, very interesting. And I agree, it takes considerably more than picking a type of drive mechanism to make a good turntable.

Switching from the Viella to something else is complaining on a high level. So out of interest, what did you go for?

And thank you for the kind comments, I really enjoy the Taurus.


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[Pallen]

I haven't made a final decision yet...

 

[Kuoppis]

Adjusting Azimuth on your TT is typically a rather arduous task. As any changes to Azimuth are very delicate, it requires great accuracy, and is also prone to error. Not so much with the Brinkmann.

This clever little tool helps ensure the headshell is absolutely plane with the platter surface, before mounting the cart. Remainder of the adjustment is done by setting the anti-skating screw to center the image with a female voice recording until everything sounds perfect. Et voilà.

Sometimes a little smart thinking beforehand can save quite a bit of hard work afterwards [emoji3].



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[Kuoppis]

Cart freshly serviced and perfectly setup. What a pleasure to listen.

- tracking force, 1.95g
- VTA 90 degrees
- azimuth adjusted with dongle
- cart alignment with Clearaudio IEC gauge
- tracking force set by ear


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[Kuoppis]

Cart freshly serviced and perfectly set up. What a pleasure to listen.

- tracking force, 1.95g
- VTA 90 degrees
- azimuth adjusted with dongle
- cart alignment with Clearaudio IEC gauge
- tracking force set by ear


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...just saw my mistake now, last line should of course read: anti-skating set by ear [emoji3].


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[Ralphio]

Very sweet looking new turntable, congrats!. I'm running the Brinkmann 12.1 / Lyra Etna SL along with Kuzma 4-point and Reed 3P on a 3-arm table and tend to prefer Brinkmann for it's natural unforced yet full bodied sound. The design is simple like Breuer but extremely well engineered material wise and assembled with great precision (I like the rigid bearing design). It's a fantastic match with the Lyra.

Also have the AMG Viella with 12" arm and I really enjoy it except for the cueing mech on the arm... like you mentioned won't stay up.

So enjoy your new toys and protractor ... I'm off to demo the Taurus soon, liking Brinkmann goods.

 

[Bruce]

The design is simple like Breuer but extremely well engineered material wise and assembled with great precision (I like the rigid bearing design). It's a fantastic match with the Lyra.
So enjoy your new toys and protractor ... I'm off to demo the Taurus soon, liking Brinkmann goods.

Yes the Brinkmann Arm is very good--I've heard it in Systems--I've owned 3 Breuer Arms and as good as the Brinkmann is it ain't no Breuer :happy:.

The posters new TT and setup looks very admirable I agree the finish and presentation is excellent.

Bruce

 

[Kuoppis]

Very sweet looking new turntable, congrats!. I'm running the Brinkmann 12.1 / Lyra Etna SL along with Kuzma 4-point and Reed 3P on a 3-arm table and tend to prefer Brinkmann for it's natural unforced yet full bodied sound. The design is simple like Breuer but extremely well engineered material wise and assembled with great precision (I like the rigid bearing design). It's a fantastic match with the Lyra.

Also have the AMG Viella with 12" arm and I really enjoy it except for the cueing mech on the arm... like you mentioned won't stay up.

So enjoy your new toys and protractor ... I'm off to demo the Taurus soon, liking Brinkmann goods.

Thanks Ralphio for the friendly comments. Very interesting to hear about your experiences with the Brinkmann 12.1” on your table. Not sure I’ve ever seen a 3-arm table - pictures? Nice choice of tonearms you have assembled. The AMG 12” plays well, but the failing lift mechanism is a bit of a drag.

I have heard from others the Brinkmann and Etna SL go together really well. Please share your experiences with the Taurus demo.

Thinking about getting the RöNT II tube power supply as well, have heard it should give the TT a nice notch up in performance. What I’ve understood, is that the impact is even greater with the direct drive TTs. Although, I think the Taurus is already reference level. The mechanical perfection is just so awesome.


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[Kuoppis]

Yes the Brinkmann Arm is very good--I've heard it in Systems--I've owned 3 Breuer Arms and as good as the Brinkmann is it ain't no Breuer :happy:.

The posters new TT and setup looks very admirable I agree the finish and presentation is excellent.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce. I’ve heard the Brinkmann has tighter mechanical tolerances, which makes sense based on the overall build quality of the turntables.


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