34 year old troika eats CDS3/XPS DR for breakfast

The cds3 sounded bloated compared to the old girl on a mid level linn lp12 stage line K. The troika was so much more musical and relaxed. Was thinking about the cds3 upgrade but not now no way, cds2 will do till it dies.

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That’s okay then!

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I’m going back to me mates place on the 11th, I’ll get a pic of the Troika and post here, you will see the old aged plugs on the back of it, he did tell me what build it was but I forget for the now,… something like Van blah blah. What I’m getting at it 34 YEARS OLD and still sounds terrific. He assures me it’s done thousands of hours, though it was side lined a year or two while he built his lp12 with DC motor. My goodness what a lovely cart it is. Modern carts can do more without doubt but the troika plays the music just right seems to be a very good all rounder.

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Den hul?

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Yes sounds like it. He said it was a good one and talked about the Direction of the Diamond.

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If it is indeed AJ van den Hul, there are videos in YT where he restores cartridges. It’s quite impressive especially since he is not the youngest anymore. I read somewhere that he lives extremely healthy to be able to continue as long as possible restoring cardridges.

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Thank you I’ll look it up for him.

I’m not surprised. I have a bit more CDS3 than that, since mine is on a 555 PS DR, and my LP-12 is better. But maybe the next question is how much better the CDS3 is than the CDS2.

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A wee bit bit better I reckon. Cds2 is a little bit nasally compared to cds3

The Troika is one of those Goldilocks designs and it was engineered not fluked. Which makes it even more puzzling why it was discontinued by Linn, how ever as this company
in my opinion uses alternating deafness as a method of progression it has gone!
The Troika has a substantial and cultivated Bass a Mid range to die for and a clear detailed
Treble but really it’s sound is due to the way it blends all this together in a effortless presentation. And yes it seems strangely resistant to age my sample is around 34 yrs old
also but with less hours on it. If you want to hear it at it’s best that is into a Naim 470 ohm
M/C input. And it does all this with a Elliptical stylus and Aluminium cantilever!
And no modern cartridges - are -not- better.

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I must say when I first herd it I was very surprised. Wow how old!

Surely you mean a Naim K 560 ohm load?

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I once heard a Townsend Rock with Ekos and Troika, a wow moment!

I had a CDS2 with XPS and now have a CDS3 with XPS2. The CDS3 is more detailed and has a clearer sound. The CDS2 is warmer. I like them both and tbh wish I hadn’t sold the CDS2. I sold it to make way for an NDS and 555PS at the time. I like the look of Olive units and there was something special about the CDS2. I would hang on to it if you already have a CDS2.

I prefer my LP12 overall to my other sources. It’s mid range LP12 with Lingo 1, Kore, Cirkus bearing, tone arm Akito upgraded by Audio Origami, Dynavector 10x5 cart and Graham Slee Reflex M phono stage. Sounds sublime to me.

I use the NDS most (70%), and the CDS3 and LP12 about 15% each in my listening.

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Not really, again from memory! Linn had another cartridge Karma? hence the K designation and when this came out they provided these K boards as a better match for the Karma than
the resident 470 ohm boards in the NAC 32. My self i preferred the 470 ohm with either cartridge.

At Naim, K was preferred for Karma and Troika - body aside they were otherwise essentially the same.

The loading difference was pretty small really, but the standard 470ohm S boards rolled off earlier and much steeper, so that may have been a part of your preference.

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Here it is, excuse the hair, our eyes aren’t what the used to be. The lp 12 has a DC motor, to a stageline K powered from the 282/2x hicap DR, 250 DR into some Focal sopra 2.

Sorry about the sideways pics. Not sure how to stop that from happening……Thanks @Richard.Dane cropping works.

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Apparently a forum bug and Richard’s talking to the developers. Seems that an edit of the picture like a slight crop prevents it

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Try a small edit like a crop to the pictures before posting. It seems to be some kind of bug with iOS and how metadata is read by Discourse.

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I know it is not your cartridge but the Blanket (holding the hair) this tends to cave inwards and decay and can imped the operation of the Generator. Take the Arm off and use a tooth pick or sticky tape and remove the Blanket and hair under magnification No Metal is Magnetic and don’t break any wires!

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