Best turntable under 10K - suggestions ?

[greekgod]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

I've pretty much cut it down to upgrading to the Acutus or making a complete change to Brinkmann with the 10.5 tonearm... hard decision there - both seem great choices. I can make out a slight tendency toward the Brinkmann - not sure if Avids Subchassis works for me... long time making a decision... getting there slowly though... [emoji1308][emoji4]

I can relate. I am having a hard time making a decision as well. I am leaning towards the TW Acustic. I think I might need to go to more audio shows so I can hear for myself how these tables compare.

[bruno2009]

Well - my search has come to an end. I went 4 a Brinkmann La Grange.

[j3brow]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

Well - my search has come to an end. I went 4 a Brinkmann La Grange.

Excellent choice! congrats!!

[Antonmb]

Very nice indeed!

[greekgod]

I am very excited for you! Why did you settle on the Brinkmann? I look forward to reading your impressions.

[bruno2009]

In the end it was actually more of a „gut feeling“... Brinkmann just felt like the right thing to do. It was down to the two fantastic choices upgrade to Avid Acutus or the Brinkmann. Couldn’t really get warm with the sub-chassis. Both look fantastic and both are superb sounding. Brinkmann has the slightly more appealing looks for me and also the service is somewhat more easy for me here in Germany. Couldn’t really go wrong with either... will report about the Brinkmann once fully set up. Sure is a beautiful deck !!!

[John49]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

In the end it was actually more of a „gut feeling“... Brinkmann just felt like the right thing to do. It was down to the two fantastic choices upgrade to Avid Acutus or the Brinkmann. Couldn’t really get warm with the sub-chassis. Both look fantastic and both are superb sounding. Brinkmann has the slightly more appealing looks for me and also the service is somewhat more easy for me here in Germany. Couldn’t really go wrong with either... will report about the Brinkmann once fully set up. Sure is a beautiful deck !!!

I am sorry that you didn’t go for the Acutus, but I understand the easier Service aspect. Isn’t the LaGrange a discontinued product though?

[bruno2009]

Hard to say, from what I understand after talking to my dealer and Brinkmann, Brinkmann only produces „on demand“. So yes, the „distributors“ don’t run it in the official portfolio - but it is still fully under service at Brinkmann and got an update 2017. I talked to Helmut Brinkmann and the explanation was pretty much that it was a marketing decision- the LaGrange was too close to the Balance and the decision fell to run with the Balance as the long time flag ship. So the cheaper Spyder made a bigger gap. Can‘t go wrong with the LaGrange - still gets service and updates and you could probably have one manufactured @brinkamann. Brinkmann actually states that all desks are pretty close in quality- even the smallest Bardo must be fantastic. I doubt that the Avid and the Brinkmann desks differ much qualitywise - both are excellent. Also both are manufactured beautifully and should last a lifetime. My main decision fell due to the better service here (H. Brinkmann takes care of desks in Germany as does Conrad Mas of Avid in England). I‘m not very happy with the local Avid dealer and the Avid distributor in Germany is also not exactly the very best in my opinion. Also, getting the Acutus Subchassis to run properly without the right support seamed a bit of a bummer. I have two excellent Brinkmann dealers nearby and H. Brinkmann available in Germany.

As said - it was close and had I been living in England my decision may just as well have fallen for the Acutus.

Really looking forward to my Brinkmann now though ;-)

[John49]

What was/is the problem with the Acutus subchassis?

[bruno2009]

Nothing wrong with Avid or the subchassis, great product - just went for the Brinkmann for the former reasons. I‘m totally blown away by it‘s musicality - it has pushed my system to new highs of performance. Brinkmann was of great support while setting it up. Really happy with the decision. Love the support and service offered. Also I personally think it looks awesome!!!

I attached a few pics.


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