Entity MC

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Re: Entity MC

Post by Hermann »

ThomasOK wrote: 2022-09-23 19:42 On the main website but I thought it should also be here:

Entity Version 1.2
Introduced 20th of September 2022
•New chassis ground parts and fastening torque
•Sound improvement: Yes
•Previous model upgradable: Yes

It took a bunch of additional testing by Fredrik but this upgrade has now been nailed down. It consists of a new lock washer and fastening nut for the chassis ground. These parts are the same ones used in the SINGularity 1.5 as part of the upgrade from the 1.1 (the other parts are not applicable to the Entity). Both parts have a proper side that should be up which on the washer can't be told by visual inspection so another method was developed. Also a new torque was discovered after evaluating a range of torques and it differs a fair bit from the previous torque. It provides a nice musical upgrade and in particular improves bass resolution and timing.

Thank you Tom, interesting news.

It reads quite easy to install the modifications. How will this be settled? Is it possible to install the conversion yourself?
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Re: Entity MC

Post by lejonklou »

Yes, Entity is now in version 1.2 and it's a small but worthwhile improvement.

It might take a while before the upgrade is accessible to everyone, as I have a lot of other things going on. Parts have been sent out to distributors Nokturne Audio and Hexagon Audio, who also have the necessary tools to perform it.

Although it's a purely mechanical and rather straightforward procedure, it's essential to have access to torque tools that can be set to precisely 0.8 and 2.8 Nm. It's also necessary to be comfortable with disassembling the case and work with tools from below and above the case at the same time, without slipping or scratching the casework. The procedure takes less than an hour to complete. If all criteria are fulfilled and it's really unpractical for the customer to return the unit to where the upgrade is normally done, it might be possible to work out a solution where you can do it yourself.

The approximate cost of the upgrade is SEK 800, EUR 80 or USD 80, excluding shipping.

A new batch of Entity are being made and there will be a price increase of around 5% when it starts shipping. Although I bought twice the amount of components for this batch, the average price turned out more than 10% higher than last time and some components have gone up by 50%. Some were also really difficult to source. I really hope things don't get any worse on this front in the future.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Hermann »

Thank you very much for the extensive information Fredrik.

In view of the current situation, the price increase can certainly be described as very moderate.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by knoslean »

Just a quick note:
I was lucky to get the Entity upgraded to 1.2 early on, and indeed it swings, especially in the lower end, as noted above.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Arjen »

Just asking: never thought of a Entity MM/MC Fredrik with the benefits of both in one case?
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Re: Entity MC

Post by lejonklou »

knoslean wrote: 2022-09-26 09:33 I was lucky to get the Entity upgraded to 1.2 early on, and indeed it swings, especially in the lower end, as noted above.
Happy to hear that, knoslean!
Arjen wrote: 2022-09-26 11:11 Just asking: never thought of a Entity MM/MC Fredrik with the benefits of both in one case?
I only know of one benefit with combining MM and MC into the same case: The owner can swap cartridges without changing the phono stage.

Do you know of any other benefit?

The reason I don’t make this combination is due to the musical quality drawbacks. Both the MM and the MC stages will be compromised in quality. Either you compromise mainly the MC part by making it an add-on stage in front of the MM circuit. Or you compromise the MM part by creating it as a part of the MC stage. Or you compromise both by making them as two independent circuits that are driven by the same power supply (which will then perform worse).

If the circuits are completely independent and the power supply could be unplugged from the MM and then plugged into the MC, we’d be close to a no-compromise solution. But it’s still better to solder the power supply directly to the circuit, which is what I do.

One could have two power supplies, one for MM and one for MC. And each power supply could have its own power cord. That would be a good solution. Then one could improve it a little further, by housing the circuits and their respective power supply in two separate cases. One case for MM and one for MC. I’d ask my wife about their names and she’d say the MM one is Slipsik and the MC one is Entity.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Spannko »

lejonklou wrote: 2022-09-26 11:37 Then one could improve it a little further, by housing the circuits and their respective power supply in two separate cases. One case for MM and one for MC.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Arjen »

Clear Fredrik. So you say that every MM/MC made by any manufacturer is a compromise which worsen the potential of both. Is that right?
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Re: Entity MC

Post by tpetsch »

Arjen wrote: 2022-09-26 16:58 Clear Fredrik. So you say that every MM/MC made by any manufacturer is a compromise which worsen the potential of both. Is that right?
Everything is a compromise in Audio, the addition of a mute switch is a compromise, a Mono switch is a compromise, any & every switch/mechanical connection in a pre-amp that the signal passes thru compromises the tune. If you build a box that contains a MM & a MC stage it's a compromise, if both those stages share a power supply that's also a compromise, the switch that selects MM or MC is a compromise, the interconnect going into and out of this box is a compromise, the source, the LP record itself is a compromise. All the designer / builder can do is try to lessen all these compromises as much as possible, and even then people won't agree.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by lejonklou »

Arjen wrote: 2022-09-26 16:58 Clear Fredrik. So you say that every MM/MC made by any manufacturer is a compromise which worsen the potential of both. Is that right?
Until they prove otherwise, yes.

I agree with tpetsch that there are compromises everywhere, but if we focus on this particular issue I think there are bigger compromises involved than switches and mechanical connections. The cartridge load and degree of amplification is so different on MM versus MC that it's difficult to imagine a circuit that would be optimised for both. I put a lot of thought into this a decade ago, but always came up with the conclusion that the only way to do them both really good was to keep them separate.

I would be happy to be proven wrong, but so far I have only seen MM+MC designs that could easily be improved if they got rid of either the MM or the MC part.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Efraim roots »

I have my Entity in 1.2 version and it really is a remarkable product. I use top flight LP12 and Ortofon Cadenza Bronze at 120ohm setting and it sings!! I much prefer Ortofon Cadenza Bronze to Linn Krystal which I also have. Warning; Ortofon Cadenza Red, Blue and Black is all less musical than Adikt. This is a very unlikely event I know, but indeed it's true! Ortofons way of things is to make cartridges for different preferences. And YES, they do have a cartridge for us aswell, intended or not. The catridge should be used with the Ortofon LW 7N leadwires for magical results (not included).

With my Entity 1.2 and Ortodon Cadenza Bronze cartridge I feel immortal. Never ever have my LP12 come thru in such a powerful way. EVERYTHING I connected the LP12 to nowadays sounds incredible, it's crazy. The latest Entity is not just a pearl, it's a very high grade pearl.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by ThomasOK »

Thanks for the report, Efraim. That is indeed one of the problems with Ortofon cartridges. Apparently they don't know what a cartridge is supposed to sound like (or being cynical they feel their customers don't) so they just make different flavors in most of their series. Do you want it bright and incisive? We've got that. Do you want it warm and a little tubby? We've got that too. So you can't necessarily expect that the more you spend on a cartridge the more musical it will be. I'm glad you found a solution that makes your system sing.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by lejonklou »

Thank you Efraim!

It really pleases me to hear that you’re so happy with your system now.

Regarding Ortofon cartridges, I’m looking forward to hearing Cadenza Bronze. It’s been my experience as well with Ortofon cartridges that they are often all over the map and you have to audition them all to find out if one is really good. And then usually the other ones in the same series are very unbalanced.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Efraim roots »

lejonklou wrote: 2022-10-20 20:47 Thank you Efraim!

It really pleases me to hear that you’re so happy with your system now.
Thank you! You made it possible which is not a understatement in any way, I've been here for 13 years and learned so much. I have been extremely happy since I first got Boazu 1.1 and JERN 12WS speakers. I seriously had started to believe that there would never be something that would improve on the old naims and linn kans/naims ibls absolute strenghts. When it finally shift it was with a true next level moment, 10 times better than before, easy.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Hermann »

Hello Efraim,

I can understand the impressions you describe very well. Thanks for sharing. The Entity 1.2 is very special and I enjoy it every time. And there's probably another improvement in the pipeline.

Regarding Ortopon pickups, the only ones I know of are the MC20 and MC30 (which came with a large carrying case and pin). A long time ago. Both operated with Ittok, first via the Dayton Wright SPA internal phono then Naim prefix until the Linn Troika came, then Karma etc...

Might have an idea how the Boazu sounds as well, as it certainly follows Fredrik's musical philosophy and might share the musical merits of the Sagatuns Monos with Tundra amp.

I've never been happier than after my choice of Fredriks products.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by champton90 »

I received my December 2022 issue of Stereophile today which contains their Product of the Year Awards for 2022 and Entity received an Editors Choice Award for 2022! Congrats Fredrik!
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Re: Entity MC

Post by lejonklou »

Thank you champton90!
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Re: Entity MC

Post by Charlie1 »

Great news!
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Re: Entity MC

Post by ThomasOK »

Great to hear and well deserved!
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Re: Entity MC

Post by nostinkingloops »

i've just received a pair of linn silver unbalanced interconnects to use with my entity. i suppose others have noticed that the connections aren't terribly secure. it doesn't feel as though the cables have "seated" themselves well. i've resisted the temptation to push them into the connectors for fear of damaging the unit, but i'm wondering whether others have a solution to this problem, or they just live with it.

thanks in advance.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by lejonklou »

It sounds like your connectors are way too tight and you can’t push them in? Not uncommon with Linn Silver Interconnects unfortunately.

It’s a delicate job to loosen them up, which you can do with a pointy pair of pliers that you open up - carefully! - against the three pairs of opposing pieces of the barrel. With some care their fit can become perfect, but they can also break if opened up too hard.
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Re: Entity MC

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lejonklou wrote: 2022-11-19 20:30 It sounds like your connectors are way too tight and you can’t push them in? Not uncommon with Linn Silver Interconnects unfortunately.

It’s a delicate job to loosen them up, which you can do with a pointy pair of pliers that you open up - carefully! - against the three pairs of opposing pieces of the barrel. With some care their fit can become perfect, but they can also break if opened up too hard.
This is exactly the case with some of the Silvers with the slots in the ring. They do come too tight at times and have to be pushed in hard to seat properly, sometimes very hard which could damage the socket in some equipment. As Fredrik says you can use needle nose or small nose pliers to spread opposing parts of the barrel apart but as he said be very careful. I managed to break a part off once (luckily, since I work for a Linn dealer and keep the plugs in stock, I was able to replace it easily). You don't have to shift them out much to make it easier to plug in. You want it to be a little snug but not tight for best sound. One customer really went to town on his and the barrel was flared out and barely making connection. You don't want to overdo it. Try stretching the three opposing pairs of contacts slightly and try plugging the RCA in. It should plug in easily but still be a little snug.

The original Linn Silvers that had no slots in the ring generally don't have a problem and usually fit with a near ideal amount of pressure. If one of these is loose the inner piece of spring metal has likely been damaged.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by markiteight »

This will also improve the musical performance of your cables, even on the older style solid barrel connectors. Like Fredrik and Thomas have said, be gentle! Just a slight nudge is all it takes. You shouldn't notice any movement or change in position of the tines. Your goal is to relieve tension, not visibly increase the inner diameter. It may take a few tries, but it's much better to ease up to it than go too far!
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Re: Entity MC

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lejonklou wrote: 2022-11-19 20:30 It sounds like your connectors are way too tight and you can’t push them in? Not uncommon with Linn Silver Interconnects unfortunately.

It’s a delicate job to loosen them up, which you can do with a pointy pair of pliers that you open up - carefully! - against the three pairs of opposing pieces of the barrel. With some care their fit can become perfect, but they can also break if opened up too hard.
thanks! it required the gentlest pressure to loosen them up just enough to get a nice secure fit. i should add that upgrading to these cables yesterday, even with the sub-optimal connection, really brought the music to life. i was skeptical that a pair of cables could have so much impact on -- not just sound, but musicality. i am not exaggerating when i say that i was shocked (in a good way) by the result.
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Re: Entity MC

Post by lejonklou »

Great to hear!

Well done, nostinkingloops! It’s a delicate task.
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