Tony Tune-age System

[V.A.MKD]

Good afternoon V.A.MKD,

I always thought the Micro-Acoustic cartridge (i.e., 2002-e)sounded really good, and it was one of the better sounding moving magnets too. Unfortunately, I never heard a Micro-Acoustic cartridge on a Linn tonearm (or Linn turntable).

By the way, what tonearm and turntable did you use with the Micro-Acoustic?

Cheers

Hi Tony,

I use Systemdek and Kuzma and my friend after listening it in Systemdek he by it and use it in Sansui 222 belt drive TT, as well good result.
MA was the best in Systemdek, than in Sansui and worst in Kuzma. Reason is most probably with combination Tonearm - Cartridge = Resonance frequency.
Kuzma Stogi is high mass tonearm = not good for High compliance MM cartridges as is MA. Kuzma was the best of all 3 TT, but not good with MM MA, it need higher mass MC to be at it own and in that case it was and still is excellent TT and have good musicality ...
I was really happy with MA. Good set-up of MM is still my "Achilles Heel", it give (or let) to classical music something ...
One question, did you have opportunity to compare MA with Linn MM cartridges?

All the best,
Vlado

[Tony Tune-age]

Good afternoon V.A.MKD,

I always thought the Micro-Acoustic cartridge (i.e., 2002-e)sounded really good, and it was one of the better sounding moving magnets too. Unfortunately, I never heard a Micro-Acoustic cartridge on a Linn tonearm (or Linn turntable).

By the way, what tonearm and turntable did you use with the Micro-Acoustic?

Hi Tony,

I use Systemdek and Kuzma and my friend after listening it in Systemdek he by it and use it in Sansui 222 belt drive TT, as well good result. MA was the best in Systemdek, than in Sansui and worst in Kuzma. Reason is most probably with combination Tonearm - Cartridge = Resonance frequency.

Kuzma Stogi is high mass tonearm = not good for High compliance MM cartridges as is MA. Kuzma was the best of all 3 TT, but not good with MM MA, it need higher mass MC to be at it own and in that case it was and still is excellent TT and have good musicality ...

I was really happy with MA. Good set-up of MM is still my "Achilles Heel", it give (or let) to classical music something ...
One question, did you have opportunity to compare MA with Linn MM cartridges?

All the best,
Vlado

Good afternoon V.V.MKD,

I never had an opportunity to make a direct comparison of the Micro-Acoustic 2002e cartridge with any Linn cartridge, on the same tonearm and turntable. In fact, all of my Linn cartridges (one K9 with one new stylus, two Klydes, three Akiva's, one Kandid, and one Ekstatik) have only been used with Linn tonearms and turntables. And none of my non-Linn cartridges have been used with Linn tonearms and turntables. I really wanted to compare the Linn K9 with the Micro-Acoustic 2002e on my Linn Akito tonearm and LP12, but the Linn technician didn't feel the same way.

Cheers

[V.A.MKD]

Good afternoon V.A.MKD,

I always thought the Micro-Acoustic cartridge (i.e., 2002-e)sounded really good, and it was one of the better sounding moving magnets too. Unfortunately, I never heard a Micro-Acoustic cartridge on a Linn tonearm (or Linn turntable).

By the way, what tonearm and turntable did you use with the Micro-Acoustic?

Hi Tony,

I use Systemdek and Kuzma and my friend after listening it in Systemdek he by it and use it in Sansui 222 belt drive TT, as well good result. MA was the best in Systemdek, than in Sansui and worst in Kuzma. Reason is most probably with combination Tonearm - Cartridge = Resonance frequency.

Kuzma Stogi is high mass tonearm = not good for High compliance MM cartridges as is MA. Kuzma was the best of all 3 TT, but not good with MM MA, it need higher mass MC to be at it own and in that case it was and still is excellent TT and have good musicality ...

I was really happy with MA. Good set-up of MM is still my "Achilles Heel", it give (or let) to classical music something ...
One question, did you have opportunity to compare MA with Linn MM cartridges?

All the best,
Vlado

Good afternoon V.V.MKD,

I never had an opportunity to make a direct comparison of the Micro-Acoustic 2002e cartridge with any Linn cartridge, on the same tonearm and turntable. In fact, all of my Linn cartridges (one K9 with one new stylus, two Klydes, three Akiva's, one Kandid, and one Ekstatik) have only been used with Linn tonearms and turntables. And none of my non-Linn cartridges have been used with Linn tonearms and turntables. I really wanted to compare the Linn K9 with the Micro-Acoustic 2002e on my Linn Akito tonearm and LP12, but the Linn technician didn't feel the same way.

Cheers

Thanks Tony.

[Tony Tune-age]

It's been a few weeks since having the Linn Ekstatik cartridge installed, but it's still not burned in completely. However, it does sound much better now and I'll be posting a comparison of the Ekstatik and Kandid cartridges very soon. And the comparison will also include the original Klimax Radikal vs. the new Klimax Radikal 2. Fortunately, the Klimax Radikal upgrade is fully burned in now.

[Hermann]

Thanks for the update Tony. The Ekastatik inclusive KR/2 upgrade will be installed today. Can therefore only offer a comparison Kandid-KR/1 vs Ekastatik-KR/2. The LP12 is warming up to do some recording with old setup. But the real comparison will be possible in a few weeks when everything is burned in.

[Tony Tune-age]

Thanks for the update Tony. The Ekastatik inclusive KR/2 upgrade will be installed today. Can therefore only offer a comparison Kandid-KR/1 vs Ekastatik-KR/2. The LP12 is warming up to do some recording with old setup. But the real comparison will be possible in a few weeks when everything is burned in.

You're welcome Hermann,

My comparison will be of the same setups as well, Kandid cartridge with KR/1 vs. the Ekstatik cartridge with KR/2. And the good news is, the Klimax Radikal upgrade only requires approximately 100 hours of proper burn in time. However, an entirely new Klimax Radikal 2 will take longer to burn in properly.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

Cheers!

[Tony Tune-age]

Greetings,

After approximately five weeks, the Klimax Radikal 2 upgrade seems to be completely burned-in now. However the Ekstatik cartridge still hasn't completely burned-in yet, but it is sounding much better. So below are two music links, both are the same album and same song, but each link has a couple of different front end components.

One of the links is a Klimax Radikal with Kandid cartridge, and the other link is a Klimax Radikal 2 with Ekstatik cartridge. Due to the various shades of color on the volume light, It was difficult to record both links with the exact same volume level. Listeners may have to adjust the volume accordingly on their computers.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccw9otgj2997h ... S.mp4?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uf93tpqn9s2dwvk/2.mp4?dl=0


In addition, I'll be posting another pair of music links for comparison soon. These links will reflect another front end component change as well.

[Charlie1]

We can't play them Tony. I did this earlier. Easy to forget but you need to copy each link within the Dropbox Web page, not copy the URL when watching a video.

[Tony Tune-age]

Hopefully this works correctly now...

Greetings,

After approximately five weeks, the Klimax Radikal 2 upgrade seems to be completely burned-in now. However the Ekstatik cartridge still hasn't completely burned-in yet, but it is sounding much better. So below are two music links, both are the same album and same song, but each link has a couple of different front end components.

One of the links is a Klimax Radikal with Kandid cartridge, and the other link is a Klimax Radikal 2 with Ekstatik cartridge. Due to the various shades of color on the volume light, It was difficult to record both links with the exact same volume level. Listeners may have to adjust the volume accordingly on their computers.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccw9otgj2997h ... S.mp4?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uf93tpqn9s2dwvk/2.mp4?dl=0


In addition, I'll be posting another pair of music links for comparison soon. These links will reflect another front end component change as well.

[Tony Tune-age]

Another item that was replaced on my LP12, was the Linn felt mat. The previous felt mat is much smaller than the platter, and a portion of the platter edge can be seen beyond the mat (see picture one below). The newer felt mat was a much better fit, and the platter is fully covered (see picture two below). And they do sound different, listen to the music links below.

Picture one:

Picture two:

Music link one: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p0gpk9ty0v25ufe/GV1.mp4?dl=0

Music link two: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k6q7ctda6j3yf39/GV2.mp4?dl=0

[tpetsch]

Hopefully this works correctly now...

Greetings,

After approximately five weeks, the Klimax Radikal 2 upgrade seems to be completely burned-in now. However the Ekstatik cartridge still hasn't completely burned-in yet, but it is sounding much better. So below are two music links, both are the same album and same song, but each link has a couple of different front end components.

One of the links is a Klimax Radikal with Kandid cartridge, and the other link is a Klimax Radikal 2 with Ekstatik cartridge. Due to the various shades of color on the volume light, It was difficult to record both links with the exact same volume level. Listeners may have to adjust the volume accordingly on their computers.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccw9otgj2997h ... S.mp4?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uf93tpqn9s2dwvk/2.mp4?dl=0

In addition, I'll be posting another pair of music links for comparison soon. These links will reflect another front end component change as well.

Sounding good Tony!:

I enjoyed listening to both of these two interesting comparisons, if I had to choose one of these two to live with though I'd choose clip "2997hv1" as it's slightly more In Tune "IMO", better PRaT.. ...Also, if you don't mind me making a suggestion, you might find that installing grills back onto your Briks helps dispersion & overall InTune'ness, Briks were actually designed to function with them in place. I tried it both ways myself several times over the years and I always go back to using them.

[Charlie1]

Sounding really good Tony. The dropbox title gave it away for me but I enjoyed both anyway. The Ekstatik deck is sounding particularly good.

[Tony Tune-age]

Sounding really good Tony. The dropbox title gave it away for me but I enjoyed both anyway. The Ekstatik deck is sounding particularly good.

Thank you Charlie,

Are you talking about the two different power supply and cartridge comparisons, or the two different Linn felt mat comparisons?

[Charlie1]

The first set of clips.

As for the mat clips, GV1 sounds quite a lot better to me.

[Tony Tune-age]

Hopefully this works correctly now...

Greetings,

After approximately five weeks, the Klimax Radikal 2 upgrade seems to be completely burned-in now. However the Ekstatik cartridge still hasn't completely burned-in yet, but it is sounding much better. So below are two music links, both are the same album and same song, but each link has a couple of different front end components.

One of the links is a Klimax Radikal with Kandid cartridge, and the other link is a Klimax Radikal 2 with Ekstatik cartridge. Due to the various shades of color on the volume light, It was difficult to record both links with the exact same volume level. Listeners may have to adjust the volume accordingly on their computers.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccw9otgj2997h ... S.mp4?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uf93tpqn9s2dwvk/2.mp4?dl=0

In addition, I'll be posting another pair of music links for comparison soon. These links will reflect another front end component change as well.

Sounding good Tony!:

I enjoyed listening to both of these two interesting comparisons, if I had to choose one of these two to live with though I'd choose clip "2997hv1" as it's slightly more In Tune "IMO", better PRaT.. ...Also, if you don't mind me making a suggestion, you might find that installing grills back onto your Briks helps dispersion & overall InTune'ness, Briks were actually designed to function with them in place. I tried it both ways myself several times over the years and I always go back to using them.

Thank you Tpetsch for the grill suggestion, I'll be sure to give them another listen. By the way, I completely forgot to change the title name of the links, we were busy with a few technical issues today.

Cheers

[Charlie1]

I prefer the grills on my Briks too

[Tony Tune-age]

The first set of clips.

As for the mat clips, GV1 sounds quite a lot better to me.

Good ear, that was the new Linn felt mat...

[Tony Tune-age]

Sounding really good Tony. The dropbox title gave it away for me but I enjoyed both anyway. The Ekstatik deck is sounding particularly good.

Thanks Charlie,

I am very pleased with the Ekstatik cartridge, perhaps more than I had expected. It's certainly the best sounding Linn cartridge that I've ever heard. However, it does cost way more than any of their previous cartridges as well. But maybe we get what we pay for in this particular situation.

Just when I think the LP12 couldn't possibly sound much better...it does.

[Tony Tune-age]

I prefer the grills on my Briks too

I appreciate the input Charlie, and I'll be sure to look into this topic again.

Thanks

[Hermann]

Thanks Tony!

sounds really good. The difference between the first two clips is clearly audible. Corresponds to my so far short experience with R/2 and Ekstatik.

Regarding the new mat, the difference of both site was also clearly audible on my LP12. But I did not ascribe to it the significance it should have had.

[ThomasOK]

Interesting clips Tony! I haven't listened to both the Radikal 2 and Ekstatik together vs. R1 and Kandid. It certainly makes for a quite nice upgrade to me. I am able to follow the background instruments better and they all sound better played. While I had it I never really thought of the Kandid as an over detailed cartridge but in my experience the Ekstatik retrieves more information, especially low level detail while sounding more musical and balanced. I can hear this in the first set of clips. It also reduces surface noise in my system.

On the second set of clips I found GV1 better. It wasn't as big a difference as I expect between the good side and the bad side of the mat nor quite as big as the latest mat vs. a 20 year old mat that is substantially thicker, but more in that direction. Thanks for the clips.

[Tony Tune-age]

Thanks for the comments Hermann, and I figured your listening experience would be similar as well. I never thought there would be that much difference between the two cartridges and power supplies, so it was a surprise to me for sure.

By the way, I never gave any thought about how the Linn felt mat sounded, until Thomas gave a demonstration of which side sounded best, and how much better a thinner mat sounded than a thicker mat . Crazy stuff for sure, but legitimate nonetheless.

Thanks Tony!

sounds really good. The difference between the first two clips is clearly audible. Corresponds to my so far short experience with R/2 and Ekstatik.

Regarding the new mat, the difference of both site was also clearly audible on my LP12. But I did not ascribe to it the significance it should have had.

[Tony Tune-age]

Thanks for the comments Thomas, it was an enlightening listening test for me as well. And to my ears, the Ekstatik cartridge does reveal more information, has a much lower noise floor, significantly improves vocals, and simply sounds better than the Kandid in every category. I have never been more happy with a phono cartridge.

By the way, thanks for all your help...it's much appreciated!

Interesting clips Tony! I haven't listened to both the Radikal 2 and Ekstatik together vs. R1 and Kandid. It certainly makes for a quite nice upgrade to me. I am able to follow the background instruments better and they all sound better played. While I had it I never really thought of the Kandid as an over detailed cartridge but in my experience the Ekstatik retrieves more information, especially low level detail while sounding more musical and balanced. I can hear this in the first set of clips. It also reduces surface noise in my system.

On the second set of clips I found GV1 better. It wasn't as big a difference as I expect between the good side and the bad side of the mat nor quite as big as the latest mat vs. a 20 year old mat that is substantially thicker, but more in that direction. Thanks for the clips.

[Tony Tune-age]

By the way Thomas, the LP12 noise level has gotten even lower with the Klimax Radikal 2 upgrade. And the timing is more precise as well. So both of these items have really escalated the sonic performance of my deck significantly.

Thanks for the comments Thomas, it was an enlightening listening test for me as well. And to my ears, the Ekstatik cartridge does reveal more information, has a much lower noise floor, significantly improves vocals, and simply sounds better than the Kandid in every category. I have never been more happy with a phono cartridge.

By the way, thanks for all your help...it's much appreciated!

Interesting clips Tony! I haven't listened to both the Radikal 2 and Ekstatik together vs. R1 and Kandid. It certainly makes for a quite nice upgrade to me. I am able to follow the background instruments better and they all sound better played. While I had it I never really thought of the Kandid as an over detailed cartridge but in my experience the Ekstatik retrieves more information, especially low level detail while sounding more musical and balanced. I can hear this in the first set of clips. It also reduces surface noise in my system.

On the second set of clips I found GV1 better. It wasn't as big a difference as I expect between the good side and the bad side of the mat nor quite as big as the latest mat vs. a 20 year old mat that is substantially thicker, but more in that direction. Thanks for the clips.

[Tony Tune-age]

By the way, I never gave any thought about how the Linn felt mat sounded, until Thomas gave a demonstration of which side sounded best, and how much better a thinner mat sounded than a thicker mat . Crazy stuff for sure, but legitimate nonetheless.

Regarding the new mat, the difference of both site was also clearly audible on my LP12. But I did not ascribe to it the significance it should have had.

Last night we did another comparison with the new Linn felt mat, and the original Linn mat (first mat) that came with my LP12. The first mat does fit better than the second Linn mat, but doesn't sound as good as the second mat (probably because it's much thicker). So the bottom line is, the new Linn felt mat sounds much better than the first or second Linn mat, and it fits the platter better as well.