Thread: AMG vs. Bardo
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Old 04-22-2021, 10:09 AM
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audioguy3107 audioguy3107 is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
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Stjlinus - You may have been referring to the thread I posted in regarding the Brinkmann Taurus. I was really on the fence on this one. I had my heart set on the AMG Viella, I've always been very impressed with the table at RMAF and other places I've seen them, plus I think they look fantastic. As you said, demoing A/B is really off the table unless you got really lucky and found a dealer which had both with the same cartridge.

I ultimately went with the Brinkmann Taurus, my dealer here in Atlanta sells both althought they didn't have any experience with the AMG. The Taurus was brand new at the time yet they had sold quite a few by the time I was looking. Keep in mind I was comparing the Taurus with the base AMG Viella w/ the turbo arm, not the Forte. IMO, it came down to dealer support and the fact that the Taurus was brand new and supposed to be (and it probably is) the best direct drive table Helmut Brinkmann has ever produced. The engineering is first class and it's incredibly easy to use, the precision is just awesome and it is QUIET as a mouse. Pretty far cry from the VPI Classic Signature which was a nice table in itself. I'm sure the Viella Forte is pretty awesome as well, but also remember that table should be quite a bit more expensive than the Taurus and the tube power supply. I know one other member who went from a standard Viella to the Taurus and his feedback is that the Taurus outperforms the standard Viella quite handily. If looks are important, I think the AMG looks much better than the Brinkmann, especially with the wood skirt.

Ultimately of course it comes down to how much you want to spend, I think you'd be happy with either purchase. I'll add one more thing, going to the Lyra Etna Lambda cartridge from my Dynavector is one of the best audio purchases I've ever made. That cartridge in combination with the Brinkmann is dynamite.

- Buck
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Library: Speakers: Avalon Acoustics Isis, Subwoofers: (2) REL Acoustics 212SE Amplification: D’agostino Momentum preamplifier, D’agostino S250 stereo amplifier Digital: dCS Rossini CD/SACD transport, dCS Rossini DAC/streamer/master clock. Analog: Brinkmann Taurus table, Lyra Etna Lambda, Audio Research Ref. Phono 3
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