Cartridge for Linn Ekos?

[cas...@aimnet.com]

Hi,

I'm awaiting my new Ekos arm (which will go on to a Linn LP12 with
Lingo) but I need some recommendation and thoughts about a new
cartridge. Ekos is known for deep bass, powerful presenatation and
very detail, but many thought it to be less musical than the Naim Aro
(however, I prefer Ekos because Aro can only use Linn cartridge).
I like to keep the budget for the cartridge to be under $1000, and
better still if I can keep it around $500. My current candidate is
the discontinued Audio Technica ART-1 which I found at a discount of
around $500, and I'm looking for opinion on the following cartridges
as well:

Lyra Lydian
Dynavector XX-1
Benz Glider (low or high output ?)

Your valuable opinion is appreciated. Thank you.

Casey

[Iain Baird]

cas...@aimnet.com wrote:
: I'm awaiting my new Ekos arm (which will go on to a Linn LP12 with

: Lingo) but I need some recommendation and thoughts about a new
: cartridge. Ekos is known for deep bass, powerful presenatation and
: very detail, but many thought it to be less musical than the Naim Aro
: (however, I prefer Ekos because Aro can only use Linn cartridge).

Not so! I get good results with the ARO and an AT-OC9.

The ARO does use round mounting holes instead of elongated slots, so
there is no way to adjust the radius from arm pivot to stylus.

From the Naim owner's manual:

CARTRIDGE SPECIFICATIONS
For use with standard Arm Top:
Centre line of mounting screws to stylus tip: 7mm to 10mm
Weight: 5.5 to 12gms
If the cartridge specs fall outside the above, ask
your dealer for details of alternative models.

Presumably the alternatives are just longer or shorter, with heavier
or lighter counterweights.

BTW, the fact that you can swap ARO arm tops (with cartridge installed
and tracking weight set) in under a minute might make it rather
attractive for comparing cartridges...

iain

[AM Randle]

cas...@aimnet.com wrote:

: I'm awaiting my new Ekos arm (which will go on to a Linn LP12 with
: Lingo) but I need some recommendation and thoughts about a new
: cartridge. Ekos is known for deep bass, powerful presenatation and
: very detail, but many thought it to be less musical than the Naim Aro
: (however, I prefer Ekos because Aro can only use Linn cartridge).

: I like to keep the budget for the cartridge to be under $1000, and

: better still if I can keep it around $500. My current candidate is
: the discontinued Audio Technica ART-1 which I found at a discount of
: around $500, and I'm looking for opinion on the following cartridges
: as well:

: Lyra Lydian
: Dynavector XX-1
: Benz Glider (low or high output ?)

The Lyra cartridges are superb, but I would recommend the Linn Klyde
(which was also made in collaboration with Lyra!). I don't know what
the US price is but in the UK it is around 500 pounds.

I believe that Naim were working on a cartridge but that was a year
ago and the idea might have been scrapped (although reviewer Malcolm
Steward did have a prototype). It might be worth ringing them to see
if they have a launch date.

/* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ */
/* Andrew Randle, Communications Group, */
/* Postgraduate Research, The University of York. */
/* "Propagation is the way to go" */
/* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ */

[Gary Fozzard]

AM Randle (am...@mailer.york.ac.uk) wrote:
: cas...@aimnet.com wrote:

: : I'm awaiting my new Ekos arm (which will go on to a Linn LP12 with
: : Lingo) but I need some recommendation and thoughts about a new
: : cartridge. Ekos is known for deep bass, powerful presenatation and
: : very detail, but many thought it to be less musical than the Naim Aro
: : (however, I prefer Ekos because Aro can only use Linn cartridge).

[snip]

Do check with Naim. I heard from my dealer that the man who designed
the Troika (which I lurve!) was behind the Naim cartridge and in no
way has the idea been shelved. Reviews of the Klyde point towards
ignoring it. THe Arkiv you will love or hate and I am in the latter
category. It puts forward detail like no other I have heard but tends
to distract you with its ability rather than just getting on with the
job of making a musical experience.

Gary

[Dennis Davis]

with regard to your new Ekos, i have been using a Lyra Clavis DC, and
before that a Lyra Clavis, for several years. i could not be happier.
it is a low output cartridge, so you need to be sure that the components
downstream can amplify it properly. are you using the stock phono
cable. i have tried several others, and would be glad to share what i
know if you are of an experimental bent. dennis davis
(blue...@a.crl.com)

[Aschaub]

The Ekos has a relatively bright sound to it; so you need to take care
that you get a very neutral, or even "soft" cartridge, to keep the
whole thing from making your ears bleed. I deliberately chose the Naim
ARO over the Ekos because of this reason and my preference for the
early Spectral Reference cartridge, which sounded a little forward in
the treble by itself. The Linn Arkiv, the new Lyra Clavis, the
Parnassus and any of the newer Scan Tech cartridges would probably
work just fine as they all seem to have gotten a touch "softer"
sounding.

However, I would probably recommend a Benz Glider, Reference or Ruby
or the Cardas Heart, a variation on the Reference, because of their
more Koetsu like sound, or the Sumiko SHO if you want a slightly more
energetic and higher output moving coil cartridge. The SHO can use the
three point mount on the Ekos. I do listen through solid state
equipment, so the introduction of valves (i. e., "tubes") or a softer
sounding pair of speakers (I use modified Quad ESL-63 USA Monitors)
may change your mileage.