Brinkmann and Koetsu?

Lyra Kleos, Delos? @tomic601

I have a Bardo / Triplaner / Delos and quite enjoy it. Images like crazy, good tracker, very neutral - not colored...I have heard this same TT / Arm with Lyra Atlas and have also heard at dealer a Bardo w Brinkmann arm, RonT power supply and Lyra Atlas. I think a stone body Koetsu would be similar. My listening experience w wood body Koetsu says warmer and a bit of added color but not a mistake, just preference...

Jim

thanks Brian @noromance 

Thanks Jim! I see now that the OP had a Delos in a 2016 post. Kleos?

@bixx More info about system, sound preference may help. 

I have heard the Delos, but not in the Bardo. I'm sure it sounds magical though.

Glad you chimed in on this Jim. If anyone would know about this pairing, it's you.

I am playing the signature in my Brinkmann Balance with a SAT and I LOVE it. Not so much on the Bergmann Galder with the Odin.

the patinum sounded a little too bright for me.

Brinkmann arm is an version of Breuer arm  but with different counter

weights meant as ''universal arm'' . Different weight function is

to get the weights as near as possible to the pivot. So in priciple

you can use whatever cartridge you like. 

I have a Koestue Rosewood Signature and it sounds exactly as advertised. Neutral balanced, detailed, natural, and musical. I am using it on a contemporary Linn LP12. I would buy it again.

Thanks very much for all your responses.....  In the past I have been using the Delos to very good effect.  I have downsized my system to fit my downsized room/house to a Nagra Classic INT, Roon/Carry DMS 600 streamer, Dynaudio C1 Platinum speakers on their stands, Brinkman table and arm on HRS stand, and a Musical Surroundings Nova II phono preamp.  My nephew managed to break the stylus off the Delos, hence my new search.  I have also been looking to upgrade the Nova II but have had no luck coming up with something better so far.  Thinking of trying the Zesto Andros?  Don't know if I can take the big dive for a Lyra Atlas, but my local stereo guy swears by them and used it in a Brinkman system for his reference....  Maybe a wood bodied Koetsu along with the Zesto might be too much of a good think?

The Zesto is excellent, i have heard it with a SOTA, SME and a Koetsu Rosewood. An Etna makes a good combo w Zesto. Etna likely my next cart. The Nova II in battery mode is very very neutral. I had a III before the Herron. Hopefully you are enjoying the musical journey :-) Jim

I would think that the Brinkmann SL tonearm would have too low vertical effective mass for Koetsu but inertia in the horizontal plane is high with SL tonearms, so perhaps you'd be ok. I love my Triplanar but it was not a good match with Koetsu Urushi which sounds much better in a higher mass (pivoted) tonearm.

Thanks Jim.....I AM having enjoying the journey!  Interesting watching my tastes change over the years as the system changes from rock to now mostly jazz and classical....VERY cool:-)

Interesting watching my tastes change over the years as the system changes from rock to now mostly jazz

Me too. I have found that the better the system, the more varied the types of music you'll listen to. 

My tastes changed from Rock (60's - 70's to Jazz ('80s - to present), added classical (in 80's), then   Electronic in 90's, World in 90's , blues, then that in between. Now with Qobuz virtually everything.

I loved the Zesto when I auditioned it but I bought a Steelhead because I kind of liked it better. It was the wrong move by any account.
Dong get me wrong, the steelhead is incredible but much more less flexible, and higher noise floor.

When I get back to USA I will sell the steelhead and buy a Zesto.
 

get the Zesto, much more quieter, more flexible for different cartridges, did I said warm but very precise, quiet and quieter.

Great sounding combo jump on it ASAP!!

Astolfor, I am a little confused by your post.  It seems you are saying you like the Zesto phono stage better than the Steelhead, but you bought a Steelhead.  Then you go on to list the ways in which you think the Zesto (presumably you're referring to the Andros II version) outperforms the Steelhead.  Except some of your claims are questionable and others seem just incorrect.  If you just like the sound of the Zesto Andros over that of the Steelhead, that is fine and dandy.  I am not challenging you on that score.

Noise. You say the Zesto is quieter.  Is that based on published specifications, independent lab test results, or your own personal impression based on listening to music on each unit?  It would surprise me if the Zesto is really measurably quieter than the Steelhead, because the Zesto is an all-tube unit, using all 12AX7 type tubes, whereas the Steelhead is a hybrid transistor/tube design, using high transconductance tubes.  Zesto does derive its MC stage gain by using built-in SUTs, so it is conceivable that it could measure lower in noise, if you compare it to the MC sections of the Steelhead. But even the Steelhead uses autoformers in the output section of its MC circuits. I would guess that on a practical level, both units are "quiet".  The astute listener would not likely reject the Steelhead for being noisy.

Flexibility.  The Steelhead offers one pair of MM inputs and two pairs of MC inputs, selectable from the front panel. Capacitance and load resistance are adjustable for each pair of inputs selected, on the front panel.  Gain is selectable in 5-db increments from 50 to 65db, for any of the three pairs of inputs. (You know all this, because you own one.) The Andros offers one pair of inputs each, MM and MC. The range of slectable gain is similar to that of the Steelhead. I don't see anything in their on line literature regarding how one would alter load capacitance or resistance.  Nor do I see controls for those parameters on the front panel, in photos. So there is no basis for stating that the Andros is more flexible than the Steelhead. Again, if you like the SQ of the Andros over the Steelhead, that is the point of making a change.

Finally, probably because it uses only 12AX7 tubes throughout, which have a very high plate resistance, the output impedance of the Andros II is listed at 10K ohms.  This is very limiting as to what the Andros II can drive. Driving any downstream component with less than about 100K ohm input impedance is likely to result in some high frequency attenuation. I see now that the Andros II has been superseded by the "Andros II Deluxe", which uses one half of a 12DW7 as an output stage, affording a much lower output impedance of 150 ohms, which is good. If you do buy a used (or new) Andros, make sure you get the "Deluxe" version.