APRIL 2018 WWW.HIFINEWS.CO.UK THE HOME OF REAL HI-FI V Brinkmann’s Spyder takes a spin IN Y L I C O W N E Power play I R V Perreaux’s 255i – E world’s beefiest RAY CHARLES integrated? THE GENIUS OF… Exposure Compact ‘XM HP’ DAC/headphone amp INVESTIGATION Hear and now... Hearing loss – we uncover the latest research Magneplanar 20.7 Mighty panel speakers from Minnesota Métronome DSC1 Network-attached DAC, with flair... Exclusive D’Agostino’s Progression Pre and Stereo power amp • PLUS 18 pages of music reviews & features• VINYL RE-RELEASE The Killers’ Sam’s Town on 180g UK £5.25 US $13.00 Aus $12.99 • OPINION 12 pages of letters & comment • VINTAGE REVIEW Sony’s TA-F70 integrated amplifier • SHOW BLOG Bristol’s annual Sound & Vision event • READERS’ CLASSIFIEDSHi-Fi bargains galore 001_April 18 Cover_v9_SPPM.indd 1 14/03/2018 17:18 APRIL 2018 WWW.HIFINEWS.CO.UK THE HOME OF REAL HI-FI V Brinkmann’s Spyder takes a spin IN Y L I C O W N E Power play I R V Perreaux’s 255i – E world’s beefiest RAY CHARLES integrated? THE GENIUS OF… Exposure Compact ‘XM HP’ DAC/headphone amp INVESTIGATION “ In the great scheme of high-end turntables, Hear and now... Brinkmann’s Spyder is a redoubtable device. It offers Hearing loss – we uncover the latest research rhythmic ease, great clarity, a smooth tonal balance and expansive soundstaging – making it a highly enjoyable Magneplanar 20.7 listen. Factor in its excellent finish, flexible design and Mighty panel speakers from Minnesota overall engineering, and even at this price it is fine C Métronome DS 1 value. Those fortunate enough to aspire to such a thing Network-attached DAC, with flair... should consider it an essential audition. “ Exclusive Brinkmann Spyder review Hi-Fi News, April 2018 D’Agostino’s Progression Pre and Stereo power amp • PLUS 18 pages of music reviews & features• VINYL RE-RELEASE The Killers’ Sam’s Town on 180g UK £5.25 US $13.00 Aus $12.99 • OPINION 12 pages of letters & comment • VINTAGE REVIEW Sony’s TA-F70 integrated amplifier • SHOW BLOG Bristol’s annual Sound & Vision event • READERS’ CLASSIFIEDSHi-Fi bargains galore 001_April 18 Cover_v9_SPPM.indd 1 14/03/2018 17:18 Belt-driven turntable with electronic speed control Made by: Brinkmann Audio GmbH, Achberg, Germany Supplied by: Symmetry, Herts Telephone: 01727 865488 Web: www.brinkmann-audio.com; www.symmetry-systems.co.uk TURNTABLE Prices: £9795 (deck), £2995 (tube PSU), £3895 (10.5 tonearm) Brinkmann Spyder Sporting a unique modular design that accommodates multiple tonearms, a tube-based PSU for the motor and novel heated bearing, this super deck is far from run of the mill Review: Nick Tate Lab: Paul Miller oes the world really need the drive circuit delivers 12 pulses per mounting plates, plus rear-mounted RCA another high-end turntable? revolution, and these power what is phono sockets (XLR or feed-through is also That’s the question Brinkmann’s effectively a 500g flywheel, giving a available) which – if they’re specified for Spyder has to answer, because smooth feed to the platter. This motor Brinkmann tonearms such as the 10.5 – there’sD already a surfeit of fancy vinyl disc can be aspirated by Brinkmann’s optional come pre-wired to simply plug straight spinners sitting pretty in this high value RöNT II vacuum tube power into the base of the market. This deck needs to be special in supply [see PM’s boxout, arm itself. This is a neat some way then, and so it proved. Costing p39], again supplied here ‘It’s fun to kick arrangement and makes £9795 in basic form, it’s one of two belt- and costing £2995. Hence off the audition setting-up the deck less The tonearm itself is a beautifully finished never protests. The 10.5 tonearm is equally ABOVE: Simple, but elegant, the Spyder’s driven decks in the German company’s the Spyder, as tested, adds fiddly. You start by bolting design. It has a claimed dynamic mass of classy, with a beautifully silky feel when you modular construction confers a high degree of range of hi-fi separates, sitting alongside up to a cool £16,685. period with a an arm pod to the main 12g so will work well with most modern hand-cue your LP tracks. flexibility and ‘upgradability’. The glass platter the Balance 2 [HFN Jul ’14]. Brinkmann The large 10kg alloy/ chassis, gently lowering cartridges [see PM’s Lab Report, p41]. The surface must be kept scrupulously clean... also makes the Bardo and Oasis direct- crystal platter is driven poor recording’ that heavy platter down tube is made from aluminium and stainless STRONG AND STABLE drive turntables, which themselves are around its edge by a thin into place, then aligning steel, with a so-called ‘high tech synthetic There are some turntables that fly their In the great analogue scheme of things, interesting and innovative things. rubber belt from the offboard motor. Its the motor housing. Then you connect up material’ also used, while the headshell analogue flags high, so to speak. They that’s surely what most people want. housing has to be placed 7.5cm (3in) both the motor and bearing power supplies has an anodised finish and is not easily deliver a highly partisan view of the It’s always fun to kick off the auditioning FOREARMED from the edge of the platter to guarantee before installing the tonearm. detachable. Double gimbals with precision recording, one that’s rich, euphonic and period with a particularly poor recording, The Spyder is most assuredly not from correct speed stability, with the deck ball-bearings are used in the bearing, and romantic – the idea is to beguile the and so it was that my well-campaigned the traditional ‘Thorens TD150 school’ of sitting on a uniformly level surface. It sports OOZING QUALITY there are adjustments for VTF, VTA and listener. There are others that are so pressing of 10cc’s How Dare You! [Mercury turntable design. True, its platter is spun the usual two speeds, with an LED indicator The Brinkmann 10.5 went on very smoothly headshell azimuth – additionally, magnetic forensic and analytical that it seems they 9102 501] was deployed – scratches, by a rubber belt, but that’s about all it to show the motor is powered. Two top- with the appropriate arm plate that came antiskating is fitted. secretly want to be measuring instruments. crackles and all. ‘I’m Mandy, Fly Me’ proved has in common. First, it has a modular mounted speed-trim pots sit either side of with the deck, so it became a question In use, this turntable feels lovely. It It’s as if they’d be happier working as an unexpected treat via my reference Lyra construction that accommodates up to motor control buttons. of mounting the cartridge, balancing oozes quality and gives no impression seismographs, monitoring minute ground Dorian MC, delivering a powerful sound four tonearms of up to 12in length by The arm pods bolt quickly to the main the arm, adjusting the cartridge that engineering corners have been cut. tremors, than playing music. that had something of a master-tape feel virtue of specially designed, bolt-on arm chassis, and contain detachable arm alignment and VTA. There are no creaks or groans from the The Brinkmann Spyder is neither of to it. So while the Spyder takes a tempered ‘pods’. Our deck came configured for the belt as the deck spins up to the correct these, treading a carefully judged path view of what it’s being asked to play, it’s £3895 Brinkmann 10.5 tonearm, but it speed, although it does take a quite long between the two extremes to offer a well- still clearly detailed enough to capture the should be pointed out that, with more than time (seven seconds) to reach 33rpm, and rounded, neutral reading of the recording. recording’s natural energy. two arms fitted, the Spyder would be pretty slightly more for 45rpm – during this time Indeed, it is very even, measured and There’s a surprising amount of dynamic crowded, making it hard to use. the motor remains absolutely silent and detailed, without being in any way a killjoy. scale to its sound that is notably less Another fascination is its novel heated compressed than with other decks. When bearing. Brinkmann says that in order RÖNT II ‘TUBED PSU’ the music gets loud, the to smoothly rotate the heavy platter, Spyder happily conveys the bearing has to have minimal play. As standard, the Spyder turntable comes with a this without breaking With such fine tolerances, the different compact outboard supply [far right] that provides into a sweat, yet coefficients of expansion of the materials the 24V for Brinkmann’s proprietary ‘Sinus’ motor it can eke its way used becomes an issue. This is why the and a secondary supply for the heated bearing deep down into the bearing is heated electronically to ensure assembly. An upgrade for the motor is available spaces between the that it is largely immune to a changing in the form of the £2795 RöNt II power supply notes to capture ambient temperature. [main inset photo] which employs tubes for both the subtleties of Brinkmann’s so-called ‘Sinus’ motor is rectification and regulation. In this case, the valve the music. This is supplied, which is designed to reduce lineup includes one 5AR4 full-wave rectifier feeding an authoritative- cogging. The arrangement of the two high current, low resistance PL36 tetrodes – sufficient to deliver the 500mA sounding turntable that takes everything driving coils and the neodymium required momentarily to overcome the platter’s inertia.