Turntable Shootout in Italy

bonzo75

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http://zero-distortion.org/brinkmanntechdasmonacotechnics/

A big thumbs up to Gian for introducing me to Emanuelle of Audioplus in San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy, who had the answers to most of my TT queries. Audioplus is a distributor for Italy for many products, most notably Techdas, Soulution, Allnic, Absolare, and Marten, and receives a lot of trade ins.

Where else will you get to compare side by side
  1. Techdas AF3 with Brinkmann Balance
  2. Balance against the Lagrange
  3. Followed by the Monaco 1.5
  4. Followed by the Technics sp10 mk2
Technics Techdas.JPG Monaco.JPG LaGrange.JPG Balance Techdas.JPG


All on Marten 2s with Absolare integrated hybrid, Allnic H7000 phono

Additional bonus: Compare the Allnic with the built in phono in Soulution 520 preamp
 
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spiritofmusic

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Do I see a Vyger in one photo?
 

bonzo75

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spiritofmusic

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The joy of the “aah, if only...” lost demo opportunity.
At least you got a chance to hear the Vyger at the home of The General.
 

bonzo75

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The joy of the “aah, if only...” lost demo opportunity.
At least you got a chance to hear the Vyger at the home of The General.

Yes this was the Atlantis, older model of Bill's
 

shakti

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May 9, 2015
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thanx, interesting information!
 

dan31

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Jul 22, 2010
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Just a note on system compatability, the soulution 520 has a line input impedence of 3k ohms. Very low and I’m sure not easy for the tube phono preamps to drive.
 

Ron Resnick

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Wow! That was a breathless report, and a fun read!

“The Allnic creates a soundstage in the room, so your room becomes the venue. The Soulution transports you to the venue in the recording. . .”

There are many reports, it seems, where the tube preamplification creates a “they are here” result, whereas the solid-state preamplification creates a “you are there” result. Do you think this different result in sonic venue can be generalized to a tube versus solid-state phenomenon?
 

Ron Resnick

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I see an Aesthetix Eclipse in the background of the photo. Did you have an opportunity to compare this directly to anything?
 

bonzo75

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I see an Aesthetix Eclipse in the background of the photo. Did you have an opportunity to compare this directly to anything?

Not here - I will do an IO Eclipse vs Allnic H5000 vs Dartzeel separately
 

bonzo75

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bonzo75

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Just a note on system compatability, the soulution 520 has a line input impedence of 3k ohms. Very low and I’m sure not easy for the tube phono preamps to drive.

The bulk of the listening session was done Allnic directly to Absolare hybrid. The Allnic to Soulution was used only to check if that sounds fine (It didn't, directly to the Soulution phono and using Soulution as a one box pre phono sounded better than going from Allnic phono to Soulution pre).
 

Mike Lavigne

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Apr 25, 2010
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Wow! That was a breathless report, and a fun read!

“The Allnic creates a soundstage in the room, so your room becomes the venue. The Soulution transports you to the venue in the recording. . .”

There are many reports, it seems, where the tube preamplification creates a “they are here” result, whereas the solid-state preamplification creates a “you are there” result. Do you think this different result in sonic venue can be generalized to a tube versus solid-state phenomenon?

after having the ML3's and darts together...….it's pretty simple; at the top of the food chain the tubes are more rounded and holographic (they are here), solid state resolves lots more space, granular detail, openness, and fine textures of things (we are there).

neither are totally real...…..since real music is not all the way to either extreme. choose your artifact.
 

gian60

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Apr 17, 2016
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Audioplus is in San Benedetto Del Tronto,not Pescara and is one the 4 biggest distributor in Italy

Is full of interesting second hand product

www.audioplushiend.it
 

bonzo75

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Audioplus is in San Benedetto Del Tronto,not Pescara and is one the 4 biggest distributor in Italy

Is full of interesting second hand product

www.audioplushiend.it

Haha Gian, I define a city by the airport I land in. Should go by the train station. Will update
 

tima

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Mar 3, 2014
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Thanks for a very interesting report. No doubt, it was a fun opportunity to listen to so many different table-arm combinations and that alone offers value.

Of course, as a prior user it was a dissapointment to read your brief v. negative assessment of the Monaco 1.5 turntable (no longer in production, so probably a trade-in.) Then, of all things, to see a bright blue appeal to read Fremer's review of the Monaco version 1.0 - presumably because you found congruence there with your take. In both those instances a Graham arm was used, the B-44 by Fremer and the venerable Graham 1.5 at Audioplus. Having no direct experience, I have no idea if Graham arms are a factor with Monaco 'tables. Looking for correlation, am not aware of any other assessments of any Monaco's using a Graham arm. I only note it as a loosely common factor in the only two negative publication comments I've read of these 'tables (v1.0 and v1.5). The wholly contrary eight positive reviews find mounted a 10" and 12" Tri-Planar (Monaco reviews of version 1.0, 1.5, 2.0) and 11" and 14" Kuzma 4Point 'arms (versions 1.5 and 2.0) and in one instance a Dynavector DV 507 mk2 (version 1.0).
 

bonzo75

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Hi Tima, that is possible. Hence I clearly mentioned that Graham could be one of the reasons. Awsmone sent me this Graham 1.5 link. The Monaco I have heard in Pietro's yamamura which is one of my top three systems, with the elite, though I cannot make out what the table is doing and his system also sounds excellent with his CD player. I have heard it in a Cessaro Liszt system with the triplanar and dynavector where I did not like it but to be fair he was putting it through an Illusonic phono.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/graham-model-15-tonearm-tjn-comments
 

spiritofmusic

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I heard the Monaco 1.5 in exactly the same room as Ked w the Liszts, first thru regular phono, then a couple of years later w the Illusonic.
No comparison, thru the Illusonic the Monaco was stripped of all texture, indeed soul.
The first time round it was much more vibrant and lively.
Both times w Triplanar arm and Dynavector cart.
 

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