Brinkmann vs HR-X vs SME 30

One Audiogon member has. I don't remember where his post was. He compared the Yorke S7, Brinkman & SME?#. His assesment, from what I remember, was the Brinkman was most neutral w. the Yorke just behind. Brizonbiovizier, if you care to chime in? It all left me needing more money. I was about to get an SME 20 & then held off. From what people have said the 20 is great for classical, but I need something well rounded. I would add the Yorke S7, Acoustic Solid or Acoustic Signature maybe to this group, along w. the Kuzma w. tonearm. I have heard the Yorke S7 several times & feel it is exceptional but needs the Vibraplane to be considered as such. I would say the SME & HR-X can be compared as they have a suspension. The Brinkman must be compared w. suspension to be relevant. Each with their respective tonearms & I would guess suitable cartridge. that would be the EMT for the Brinkman, & maybe a Dynavector for the SME if you are using the SME V tonearm. For the VPI your call. I love the design of the Brinkman and the tonearm, but you can't mount a VDH cartridge on the tonearm. The Brinkman can accomodate 2 tonearms, which for me at this level of the game is a big plus.

The SME sound flat on rock but great for classical. The brinkmann sounds great on any type of music yet still beats the sme even on classical. The brinkmann arm is also a great deal better than the sme V (both of which I have owned). It sounds even better with the airtangent.

I havent listened to the vpi. The kuzma sounds good but it is not in the same league as the brinkmann or the yorke.

The brinkmann arm CAN take VDH - in fact Mr VDH uses brinkmann to develop his cartridges!

Does anyone use a Brinkmann arm on anything other than a Brinkmann table? Does anyone use an EMT on anything other than a Brinkmann arm? How interchangeable are these paths to perfection?

No experience but my guess it the Brinkman Arm & the EMT are very synergistic. I was strongly disrecommended the Brinkman Arm/ Breuer arm by a very reputable turntable manufacturer. He mentioned the Breuer arm to be compatible with only a few cartriges. In that regard he also mentioned that the Brinkman arm would not match well w. Koetsus, London, Dynavector or Allaerts cartridges. He did mention that it would work well w. Van Den Hull. The problem is that the VdH cartridge base will not fit due to the fins on the Breuer type arm headshell. Another arm highly recommended for EMT or VdH by a fellow Audiogoner is Sumiko The ARM. It is similar to the Breuer type arm in some designs. My guess is that a Audiocraft or Grahm would also work well, but that is only a guess.

I do know that the ideal arm for one cartridge has very little to do with what is ideal for a 2nd cartridge.

The breuer and brinkmann arms are compatible with a wide range of cartridges. I have heard many combinations and they all sound excellent. people rave about the michell orbe with the brinkmann arm. Essentially you can use the arm and cartridge on just about anything. I have heard the brinkmann arm with dynavector te-katora and it sounded superb. I have also heard VDH cartridges on the breuer and they fit and sound fine.

Which turntbale manufacturer dissed the brinkmann arm? That manufacturer makes their own arm right? ;) Trust only your own ears and even then be skeptical

Dear Khrys: The Brinkmann tonearm is similar ( a copy ) to the Breuer and Sumiko MDC 800 tonearms.

It can work with any TT: it is a great tonearm, one of the best out there.

I use it with my Colibri and do an " in heaven " match. But one Audiogon friend that want to set up the Condor with it: he can't do it because it can't fit at the headshell ( because the wide size of the Condor ).

These tonearms work very well with any cartridge, you only have to have the right counter weight.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

While the brinkmann is derived from the breuer it does sound very different - I have compared with the breuer 5,7 and 8 and the brinkmann is much faster, dynamic and coherent. Its a very large leap. Wasnt the condor developed on the brinkmann arm?

Raul,I owned the MDC-800 years ago.It was a superb arm.I wish I had it now,so I could compare to to my current set-up.

Brizonbiovizer;

The manufacturer doesn't make any tonearms. He does have arm manufacturers who he has relationships with, but he wasn't trying to sell me anything. In fact I didn't purchase a tonearm from him. I ended up getting the Ikeda IT-407, w a Jamamoto Ebony Headshell. Raul recommended the tonearm. I also have on order a. Schroder tonearm. I noticed that most arms can be tweeked to be made compatible w. most cartridges but the synergy between different cartridges is what really makes the final difference. In this case my cartridges of choice are my Condor, my Koetsu & a Dynavector XV-1S. Maybe an Allaerts some day. The Ikeda & the Schroder should be a better match for some of these cartridges in the future.