New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

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Thomas
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New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by Thomas »

Hallo all in the Lejonklou/Linn world.

This is my first post here in this forum so here is a little back ground story.
I have been 20 year Naim and Rega turntables owner. But a few years back I took the first step and purchase me a 2.hand Linn LP12 (Trampolin, Ekos, Standard sub-chassis, Arkiv cartridge og Lingo). This turntable was a big step up from my then Rega Planar 6.
Then last year I took the next big jump. Purshasing a Lejonklou Boazu Amplifier. After been running through a great deal off Naim pre-, power amps and power supply, I was ready to try something different and down sizing my setup (not Down grade).
But now the Arkiv cartridge are running out and need to bee replaced. I have been speaking about this with a fiend here in DK who knows quiet a lot off Linn products and Naim for that matter and he suggested this;
Linn Adikt (make sense)
Linn Kore (maybe, does it up-grade or just make it sound different ?)
Lejonklou Slipsik (make sense, Slipsik is almost made for Linn Adikt and of course the Boazu).

Does it make sense to purchase these products ?

Best regards from Thomas here in Denmark.
beck
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by beck »

Welcome Thomas!

Now we have two Thomas in here but only one is OK. ;-)

I will let others such as ThomasOK and Lejonklou answer your questions. Have fun. :-)
Playing cd’s…………
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Tendaberry
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by Tendaberry »

Hi and welcome Thomas! While your friend's suggestion does make sense, there might be better options, but we need more info from you. Which version of the Lingo do you have? I doubt it's the latest Lingo 4, since it was bought second-hand. The biggest gain would be to exchange an older Lingo for a new Lingo 4 or Radikal (but that might not be financially viable). This would also offset the cartridge downgrade. Which phono preamp do you use today? Does it also do MM?
The Kore is a very nice upgrade, which I would wholeheartedly recommend. The new Slipsik 7 is terrific, but I don't know if it's in your budget, when you upgrade the Lingo... Maybe a second-hand Slipsik 6 would be an option then?
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by maffe »

Welcome Thomas!

I would say that the Adikt with slipsik 7 is a no brainer!
Kore is also a good upgrade for ok money (compared to keel). 2-3 years ago I had Kore and Radikal installed into my Akito 1 LP12 and I alomost regret doing it at the same time since it was a big improvement.
Got the slipsik 7 a week ago and it was also a “Wow” moment and still not really got my head around how a phono stage can make that much impact on the music!
Last edited by maffe on 2019-03-09 16:49, edited 1 time in total.
Charlie1
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by Charlie1 »

I think you should have a listen to some of these options first.

Am I right in thinking you have two main options in mind?

1.) Replace Arkiv with another MC (i.e. Krystal)
2.) Switch to MM (i.e. Adikt/Slipsik), sell MC phono stage and upgrade LP12 (i.e. Kore/Lingo 4)

In theory 2 is better, but ideally you should make that decision based on a dem. You may decide differently. Also, you'll better understand the pro's and con's of each if you compare them yourself.
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by ThomasOK »

Welcome to the forum, Thomas. Good first name!

Your upgrades so far are certainly heading in the right direction in a big way. I would say that your proposed upgrades would create a quite nice LP12 setup, especially if you are not into the continuing expense of a MC cartridge like the Kandid and Krystal. The Adikt is a really excellent cartridge, especially for the money, and the Slipsik 7 makes it obvious just how good it is. The Kore is indeed a musical upgrade and gives you something like 80% of the performance of the Keel. So if you are trying to keep it a reasonable expenditure it would be definitely worthwhile.

I don't know how long you have perused this forum but I should mention that I am the North American distributor of Lejonklou HiFi products. One of the things I do is to have a demonstration room at a Hi-Fi show from time to time. Fredrik and I will be hosting a room in Chicago, IL at the Axpona show April 12th through the 14th. There we will be introducing the SINGularity MC phono stage to the North American public and also demonstrating the Slipsik 7 for the first time. In order to do that I own two LP12s, one a fully loaded Klimax LP12 with custom movingui plinth, the other with an Adikt to demonstrate the Slipsik and Gaio phono stages. The Adikt LP12 includes a Kore, Trampolin 2 and Ekos 2 arm and I just recently fitted a Lingo 4 to replace the Lingo 2 I took off it a while back. So the setup you are talking about getting is something I am quite familiar with. It sounds quite good.
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Thomas
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by Thomas »

Hallo Agian.

Current setup

Lejonklou Boazu
Linn LP 12
Icon Audio Riaa PS1 mk2 (MM+MC)Chord Company Signature interconnect +power chord.
Naim CD5 XS, Naim power line+ linn silver interconnect (old Model).
Neat Motive2 speakers.
Linn K400 (Spilt)3 meter.
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by Thomas »

Hallo again again.

I forgot; Chord Company Signature Tone arm cable.
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by ThomasOK »

Several posts came in while I was writing mine and brought up some good points. I made the assumption that you wanted to step down from a MC cartridge to an Adikt, probably due to the ongoing cost of replacing MC cartridges when they wear out, added to the initial high cost. With that in mind the Slipsik 7 obviously makes sense, especially if you can get decent money out of the Icon. So I am assuming he $640 for the Adikt is basically a given.

However, as has been pointed out there is a hierarchy to what makes the most musical improvement to a system and, assuming your LP12 has a Cirkus bearing/subchassis the most important thing to upgrade would be the motor/power supply, then the subchassis, then the arm and then the cartridge. You have an arm that is quite good and would require a $4950 replacement to better it (all prices US so it may be different where you are) so that is something for much further down the line. Now generally my recommendation would be just get a Radikal, but that runs $4250 to $7000. The total of upgrades you mentioned (Kore and Slipsik 7) is $2995, and that doesn't include what you can get out of the Icon, so I didn't mention the Radikal. However, if you could stretch to it it will make a huge improvement. It is also true that a Lingo 4 will be a bigger upgrade than the Kore and with the trade in of your current Lingo it might end being about the same money. Thirdly, the Keel also wasn't mentioned as it runs $3250 putting above the Kore/Slipsik 7 combination. But it is the second biggest upgrade after a Radikal.

One thing we haven't talked about, which you should take into consideration when contemplating upgrades, is where you want to take the LP12 long term. I am not a big fan of intermediate steps as each one loses money. Of course they do give you immediate payback but long term getting a Kore if you plan to get a Keel in a few years is likely to cost you maybe $500 or $600 more than waiting and buying the Keel when you have saved that money up. Similar with the Lingo 4 vs. the Radikal. So if you see these upgrades being the last thing you will you do, then the plan you mention will make for a good sounding LP12, although a switch from the Kore to a Lingo 4 will make it better. But if you plan to eventually get a full Klimax LP12, possibly with an Adikt as Fredrik and a number of others have used for years, then you might want to skip intermediate steps and concentrate on affording the Radikal and an Adikt, then a Keel when funds allow. Again, depending on what you can get for the Icon, it could make sense for you to go Slipsik 7 relatively soon as it really brings out the magic of the Adikt, as you can read in the comments on that thread. Hopefully all this doesn't just make it more confusing. If it does just ask more questions.
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Re: New Cartridge, riaa and Kore

Post by tokenbrit »

ThomasOK wrote: 2019-03-09 19:36 .. there is a hierarchy to what makes the most musical improvement to a system and, assuming your LP12 has a Cirkus bearing/subchassis the most important thing to upgrade would be the motor/power supply, then the subchassis, then the arm and then the cartridge...
Hi Tom. Where would you place the turntable support in the hierarchy? For instance, is a NokTable, or similar, ahead of or behind any of the upgrades discussed above? On a similar note, given their small footprint, what is the preferred placement of Lingo4 &/or Slipsik7 - should they go on the same surface as the LP12 itself; on a shelf with the (pre)amp; or on a shelf on their own (if you have the space)?
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