I have an old Linn Sondek from the mid-80s with Ittok arm and K9
cartridge. The cartridge is shot and the local dealer suggests
replacing it with the Adikt (about $US350). Any alternatives,
preferably a little cheaper?

Neil

Neil Gendzwill wrote:
I have an old Linn Sondek from the mid-80s with Ittok arm and K9
cartridge. The cartridge is shot and the local dealer suggests
replacing it with the Adikt (about $US350). Any alternatives,
preferably a little cheaper?

Your dealer is naturally going to recommend something he sells
versus something he doesn't. I get good results from my Rega Elys
cartridge ($195 at www.needledoctor.com), but then it was designed
for the Rega RB300 arm I run on my Sondek.

Russ

Neil Gendzwill wrote:
I have an old Linn Sondek from the mid-80s with Ittok arm and K9
cartridge. The cartridge is shot and the local dealer suggests
replacing it with the Adikt (about $US350). Any alternatives,
preferably a little cheaper?

Neil

Neil:

I own an Linn LP12/EKOS/LINGO/TRAMPOLIN with a Goldring Elite moving
coil. I also own an old Kenwood turntable on which I've installed a
cheap Grado Cartridge (Black). The Grado cost me only 75$ Canadian and
I love it, especially given that most dirt-cheap-used-records I find
out there are in crappy condition.

I have no reason to suspect that the cheap Grado wouldn't be anything
less than wonderfully musical on the Linn. Keep in mind that any
"expensive" cartridge will make you cringe in pain every time you
listen to a used record formerly ground to bits by a poorly setup "nail
driver".

Save your money and your sanity. Buy a dirt cheap Grado and tell that
"impartial" Linn dealer to...


PS: Lest anyone think I work for Grado, I don't. I bought the above
mentioned cartridge two years ago when my Linn was being serviced. I
was so bowled over by the Grado's musicality that I went back to the
dealer and sampled Grado's other products. I bought an SR80 Grado
headphone. After a week, I was so impressed by how good the SR80 was
on my portable that I went back and bought an SR125 for my wife and
later some more for my close friends and family. Finally, I bought an
RS1 and a Grado Headphone amp; with a good CD player, it's now my
listening kit of choice.

I can truly say that after having spent well over $30,000.00 on my
present big rig, I see no reason why you should regret going the
"cheap" route. I am truly grateful that Grado has not taken the path
of gouging people in this most ridiculous period in audiophile history.
In this jaded audiophile's experience, Grado offers the best of what
this hobby has to offer at prices that define value over pure BS.

To Grado, I say thank you.

To you, I say good luck.

Peter Medeco.

In article ,
Neil Gendzwill wrote:

I have an old Linn Sondek from the mid-80s with Ittok arm and K9
cartridge. The cartridge is shot and the local dealer suggests
replacing it with the Adikt (about $US350). Any alternatives,
preferably a little cheaper?

Neil


I just upgraded a month ago from K9 to an AT OC9 mk2 and it's awesome!
i think it was 250us or thereabouts.

This needle is creepy silent and tracks ANY record i place under it!
Musical, clear ...

(on an Ittok2, LP12, Trampolin, Lingo)
--
Joakim Wendel
Remove obvious mail JUNK block for mail reply.

My homepage : http://violinist.nu

Neil Gendzwill wrote:
I have an old Linn Sondek from the mid-80s with Ittok arm and K9
cartridge. The cartridge is shot and the local dealer suggests
replacing it with the Adikt (about $US350). Any alternatives,
preferably a little cheaper?

Neil

Cheaper than $350? On a Linn? You cannot be serious! Good cartridges
start at about $700.

wrote:
Neil Gendzwill wrote:
I have an old Linn Sondek from the mid-80s with Ittok arm and K9
cartridge. The cartridge is shot and the local dealer suggests
replacing it with the Adikt (about $US350). Any alternatives,
preferably a little cheaper?

Neil

Cheaper than $350? On a Linn? You cannot be serious! Good cartridges
start at about $700.


Neil,

In my experience, which may not be definitive for everyone (depending
on where they are on their audiophile journey), the worst marketing
trap an audiophile can fall into is spending a certain amount of money
to do a certain component "justice"?

I fell for that idea for years. Ok, for over a decade to be honest.

When I had an Ittok arm and a K9 cartridge on my "Your Holy Eminence"
Linn LP12, all I could think about while listening was what I was
missing without the EKOS arm. In reality I had no clue what that was,
but off came the Ittok and on came the EKOS.

Wow. So much better. But I'm still not enjoying my music. Why?
Because that K9 cartridge with its sissy-yellow-cheap-plastic jacket
and its 300$ price tag is no match for my 3000$ EKOS arm. I must be
missing something, right?

So off comes that K9, and on comes the Troika. (I could do that. I
wasn't married then.)

Wow. Awesome. But wait, now there's the Lingo power supply.
Overnight, my LP12 is suddenly not doing my absurdly expensive arm and
cartridge justice. So off goes the Valhalla and on comes the Lingo.

But wait. There's more. Now it makes sense to drop another 150$ per
year so my Linn specialist can visit my home and turn the springs so it
bounces just so.

Wow, awesome. But now I've got a crappy 1300$ pre-amp for my 10,000$
(!) turntable. And so on it went....

So what brings me back to reality? Well first the left channel on my
Troika mutes, then my Lingo goes up in smoke, and finally the EKOS arm
tracking weight dial seizes.

So when I decided enough was enough, I blew the dust off my big, heavy
23 year old Kenwood turntable, went to another dealer and bought a
cheap Grado cartridge. I aligned it and after playing some records came
to realize what a horses ass I've been all these years.

Of course, it might be different for you.

Good luck.

Peter Medeco

wrote:

[snip Grado testimonial]

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked with an online Canadian retailer
who sells Grado, but he said it was a poor fit with the Ittok arm
because of the compliance and suggested one of the lower end Sumiko
cartridges instead - I'm leaning towards the Pearl as the best of their
MM designs.

Joakim Wendel wrote:

I just upgraded a month ago from K9 to an AT OC9 mk2 and it's awesome!
i think it was 250us or thereabouts.

That's an MC design that's not hot enough for the phono input of my
preamp. I'd need a step-up and then I'd be well over budget again.

Uranium Committee wrote:

Cheaper than $350? On a Linn? You cannot be serious! Good cartridges
start at about $700.

I'm sure they get better at that price point but I was always happy with
my K9 which was under $200 at the time. Not only that, but I've gotten
to the point in my life where spending that kind of money for a fairly
marginal improvement in sound on records that I don't listen to much
anymore isn't worth it. I want a working turntable that sounds good
enough - it's not my primary source anymore and I'm not going to plug
too much more cash into analog.

Neil