The Martin Design Duke/Ellington Speakers, Brinkmann amplifiers, Audience cables, HRS amp stands

 

This system does everything pretty well. Yeah, there is some muddiness, some compression but it is fairly evenly distributed throughout the frequency band. There was some hardness in the upper midrange frequencies which sounded a little like brightness - and this could have been do to any number of things, though most likely do to the Meitner being brand new and having only been played a day or two. For speakers in the $15K range ($18K range with this piano black finish) and the modest amplification, the sound was very good and certainly a more reasonable frequency balance, albeit a smaller soundstage, than the comparably configured MBL room (by which I mean the bass was not in-your-face and in a more natural proportion to the other frequencies that music often makes use of). Everybody, including Neli, seemed to think the Meitner and Brinkmann turntables were neck and neck (I personally did not hear one against the other). We are anticipating that an higher resolving system will highlight the differences a bit more - though it will likely come down to a matter of taste - and those that can afford Strawberry and Chocolate will likely want both. Neli says "I did get to hear the Thorens -- equipped with an Ortofon SPU cartridge (ooo. Bakelite cartridge head. Insides new -- but the same design for 50? years). Compared to the Brinkmann Balance/ Brinkmann EMT, the Thorens/Ortofon was somewhat rolled off on the top and bottom and a bit bigger in the midrange, not quite the clarity, rather less dynamic, less than half the price ... a very interesting table. (Oh, No, I'm turning into a turntable junkie)"

The Martin Design Duke / Ellington speaker

Brinkmann Balance turntable

Brinkmann Balance turntable

Brinkmann Fein phono stages, one for the Balance, one for the Thorens turntable, surrounding the Brinkmann tubed power supply

Brinkmann turntable solid state motor controller and power supply

Refurbished Thorens turntable

Thorens turntable

Refurbished Thorens turntable

Refurbished Thorens turntable

Refurbished Thorens turntable

Refurbished Thorens turntable

Refurbished Thorens turntable