Tony Tune-age System

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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Charlie1 wrote:
Daniel wrote:Charlie, easiest way to get over that mental block would be to take a Urika. Works every time!
Thanks - who's buying? :)

I might be tempted one day, at the right price.
Charlie, no doubt there will be an available Urika, when you are ready to make the move! I took plenty of time making all of the upgrades on my deck, and it turned out to be a wise move on my part!
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Charlie1 wrote:Look forward to reading your thoughts on the SE Tony. Like you, I did the upgrade from Ekos 2 to SE by itself.
It's been several weeks since replacing my Linn Ekos II tonearm, with the Linn Ekos SE tonearm. Still trying to take some decent pictures, and once completed will post them. But overall, the Ekos SE is a significant improvement over the entire frequency range. Bass notes are much deeper, and more detailed. Voices are more natural sounding, as are the high frequencies.

Still like the Ekos II tonearm, but the Ekos SE is certainly worth the effort to obtain...(in my opinion).
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Post by Charlie1 »

Good news - glad you're pleased with it! A friend once said to me he thought it was more of a musical upgrade than hi-fi one, and I'd agree with that.

Hopefully an arm for life and maybe they will see us both out :O) Not too soon though I hope!
Tony Tune-age wrote:Voices are more natural sounding, as are the high frequencies.
Yes, I really appreciated this aspect too.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Charlie1 wrote:Good news - glad you're pleased with it! A friend once said to me he thought it was more of a musical upgrade than hi-fi one, and I'd agree with that.

Hopefully an arm for life and maybe they will see us both out :O) Not too soon though I hope!
Tony Tune-age wrote:Voices are more natural sounding, as are the high frequencies.
Yes, I really appreciated this aspect too.
That sounds about right Charlie, more musical sounding...than Hi-Fi sounding.

Actually, the Linn Ekos II could have been a "life-time" tonearm for sure! So needless to say, the Ekos SE should really be the last tonearm for my deck. Of course I'm not ready to "check-out" anytime soon ! ! !

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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Still taking a few pictures of the new Ekos SE tonearm, and completed deck. Also, I will be having the tweeters upgraded in my Linn Isobarik speakers after the holidays. So hopefully there will be pictures of this process as well.

Looking forward to hearing the differences between the original tweeters and the newer Linn designed tweeters.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Tony Tune-age wrote:Still taking a few pictures of the new Ekos SE tonearm, and completed deck. Also, I will be having the tweeters upgraded in my Linn Isobarik speakers after the holidays. So hopefully there will be pictures of this process as well.

Looking forward to hearing the differences between the original tweeters and the newer Linn designed tweeters.
Although it's been awhile since having the Linn Ekos SE installed on my deck, I have finally taken a few pictures!

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Last edited by Tony Tune-age on 2013-03-11 16:24, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Over the weekend, ThomasOK installed two pairs of Linn Espek tweeters in my original Isobarik speakers. The sound is now a little more defined, and a little more open as well. Great improvement indeed!

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Post by Tony Tune-age »

After installing the new tweeters, a black Linn Klimax Kontrol was placed into my system (the Akurate Kontrol is being sold). Needless to say, this is certainly another significant upgrade! Thanks for all the hard work ThomasOK.

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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Also, during the visit, ThomasOK demonstrated the sonic virtures of a Mimer audio rack. And it was directly compared to my Quadraspire audio rack. Perhaps a Mimer will eventually replace my Quadraspire.

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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Here's a few additional pictures:

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Post by macrotech2 »

Tony - perhaps you should also try the Quadraspire bamboo Sunoko-Vent?
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Post by anthony »

macrotech2 wrote:Tony - perhaps you should also try the Quadraspire bamboo Sunoko-Vent?
As someone else previously stated, you need shorter poles....they are not expensive.
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Post by macrotech2 »

Certainly shorter poles would be cheaper than replacing the whole rack!
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

macrotech2 wrote:Certainly shorter poles would be cheaper than replacing the whole rack!
The longer poles were initially purchased when I had other brands of components, that were larger than my Linn gear. And I did consider modifying my Quadraspire rack, but decided to get a better audio rack eventually, then sell the Quadraspire.
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Post by tokenbrit »

Tony Tune-age wrote:Also, during the visit, ThomasOK demonstrated the sonic virtures of a Mimer audio rack. And it was directly compared to my Quadraspire audio rack...
How easy, or otherwise, do you find it to compare audio racks? It always takes me a while to move any components between shelves so I tend to find A-B comparisons quite difficult whether comparing different racks or trying components on different shelves within the same rack... Curious as to your thoughts, Tony, &/or from others here. Thanks.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

tokenbrit wrote:
Tony Tune-age wrote:Also, during the visit, ThomasOK demonstrated the sonic virtures of a Mimer audio rack. And it was directly compared to my Quadraspire audio rack...
How easy, or otherwise, do you find it to compare audio racks? It always takes me a while to move any components between shelves so I tend to find A-B comparisons quite difficult whether comparing different racks or trying components on different shelves within the same rack... Curious as to your thoughts, Tony, &/or from others here. Thanks.
The two audio racks (Mimer and Quadraspire) were positioned next to each other, during the comparison. ThomasOK used my Radikal to demonstrate the Miner, and to compare it with the Quadraspire.

We listened to the same song on each audio rack, using the top shelf of both. It was fairly easy to switch the Radikal from one rack to the other. First on the Quadraspire, then on the Mimer. Then we listened to each audio rack again.

Overall, there was a much better sonic performance on the Mimer audio rack. And it was easy to hear the difference of each rack by just using the Radikal. However, for the money, the Quadraspire is certainly a decent sounding audio rack also.

This was the same type of demonstration that ThomasOK conducted at Overture Audio, when I purchsed the Quadraspire audio rack. During that demonstration, Thomas used a compact disk player instead of a Radikal. And it was this particular experience that really got my attention (as it pertains to audio racks).
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Post by lejonklou »

tokenbrit wrote:How easy, or otherwise, do you find it to compare audio racks? It always takes me a while to move any components between shelves so I tend to find A-B comparisons quite difficult whether comparing different racks or trying components on different shelves within the same rack... Curious as to your thoughts, Tony, &/or from others here. Thanks.
Good point, tokenbrit.

When I arrange rack comparisons, I often put equipment with their rear sides facing out. So, all cables will be hanging out at the front side of the rack. Then one can simply pull one unit out and put it in somewhere else, as long as the cables are long enough. This makes comparisons quick and easy.
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Post by Efraim roots »

Hello Tony

I wonder if you feel the new tweeters integrate nice with the sound of your speakers. I remember Lejonklou pointed out that the new more refined tweeter soundwize didn't make a perfect match with the more harsh sounding midrange woofer (talking about KANs). Do you feel you lost a sense of tonal balance or something else for that matter, Or was it just upgrade with no downsides?
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Efraim roots wrote:Hello Tony

I wonder if you feel the new tweeters integrate nice with the sound of your speakers. I remember Lejonklou pointed out that the new more refined tweeter soundwize didn't make a perfect match with the more harsh sounding midrange woofer (talking about KANs). Do you feel you lost a sense of tonal balance or something else for that matter, Or was it just upgrade with no downsides?
Sorry for the late response Efraim, but I haven't checked the website for awhile. But to answer your question, I have not noticed a loss of tonal balance...so far anyway. In fact, the new tweeters had an overall improvement with the Isobarik speakers. And these speakers just continue to sound better with each and every front end improvement.

The next scheduled upgrades will be the newest Linn cartridge, and having the connectors on my Linn silver interconnects replaced with the newer WBT next generation RCA connectors.
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Post by lejonklou »

Tony Tune-age wrote:The next scheduled upgrades will be the newest Linn cartridge, and having the connectors on my Linn silver interconnects replaced with the newer WBT next generation RCA connectors.
The first I fully understand, but not the second. Have you evaluated them?
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

lejonklou wrote:
Tony Tune-age wrote:The next scheduled upgrades will be the newest Linn cartridge, and having the connectors on my Linn silver interconnects replaced with the newer WBT next generation RCA connectors.
The first I fully understand, but not the second. Have you evaluated them?
No, but the suggestion was provided by people that have made the change. And in their opinion was worth the effort...especially if buying the Sarum Tuned Aray interconnects (or any other high cost interconnects) was out of the question.

It could be worth the experiment, and I have learned not all people have the same sound preferences as it pertains to upgrades.
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Post by lejonklou »

Tony Tune-age wrote:No, but the suggestion was provided by people that have made the change. And in their opinion was worth the effort...especially if buying the Sarum Tuned Aray interconnects (or any other high cost interconnects) was out of the question.

It could be worth the experiment, and I have learned not all people have the same sound preferences as it pertains to upgrades.
Are they evaluating with the Tune Method? There is no other area in the world of HiFi where people get so confused as with cables. If the evaluation is not made with the Tune Method, nearly everyone tries to compensate for faults in their systems. Which doesn't work.

I have tried some nextgen parts and they were performing much worse than the cheaper WBT connectors. Which in turn are a downgrade on a pair of Silvers. So my advice is that if your Silvers are originals, don't ruin them.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

lejonklou wrote:
Tony Tune-age wrote:No, but the suggestion was provided by people that have made the change. And in their opinion was worth the effort...especially if buying the Sarum Tuned Aray interconnects (or any other high cost interconnects) was out of the question.

It could be worth the experiment, and I have learned not all people have the same sound preferences as it pertains to upgrades.
Are they evaluating with the Tune Method? There is no other area in the world of HiFi where people get so confused as with cables. If the evaluation is not made with the Tune Method, nearly everyone tries to compensate for faults in their systems. Which doesn't work.

I have tried some nextgen parts and they were performing much worse than the cheaper WBT connectors. Which in turn are a downgrade on a pair of Silvers. So my advice is that if your Silvers are originals, don't ruin them.
Apparently, there was no sonic faults with their system. They were just getting more performance from their Akiva cartridge before ordering the Kandid. I'm thinking they used the tune method for the change, since they use the tune method for everything else.

My silvers are not the original version, but the newer version. And I still have plenty of time before making a change. Really appreciate your thoughts as well Lejonklou, thanks.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Although my Akiva is still in great shape, I'll probably order the Kandid cartridge within a year or so. Has the waiting period gotten any shorter?
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Post by ThomasOK »

In the US it is quite a bit shorter - indeed we actually have one in stock!

Apparently the US Linn distributor convinced Linn they needed to increase the US allocation if they wanted to sell cartridges here. I think it was lost on Linn that while the US accounts for a small percentage of their worldwide sales the LP12 and associated components account for a very large percentage of US sales. Reevaluating things resulted in a substantially higher allocation of Kandids. From 11 month waits to in stock is quite a change and involved us receiving 9 Kandids within two months (all from back orders).

So I expect future delivery to be more consistent.
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