Kandid shot?

Hi-Fi Corner
1

No, not something from the Daily Mail.
My Kandid was in storage (along with the rest of my system) for the thick end of 18 months during a house move/relocation. In total, it’s 5 years old and has a total of around 1800 hrs on it. I think I’m starting to hear a little raggedness in the top end and wondered two things:

  1. What are you guys & gals seeing in terms of the lifespan of a Kandid in hours (approximately)
  2. I appreciate there are cartridge components that will deteriorate even when not being used, but would 18 months in storage have reduced its longevity/expected lifespan?

In short, is my Kandid shot?

Thanks

2

1000 Hrs is the suggested average but that’s playing time not sitting.
I’ve had some carts fine for many years.

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I ran my Kandid for seven years and whilst it still sounded great, I upgraded to the Ekstatik when that was released. Also bear in mind that the cantilever assembly might deteriorate over time even if the cartridge is not being used. Linn do offer a good trade in deal if you decide to purchase another Kandid or upgrade to the Ekstatik.

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John Burns at Pear Audio used to work at Linn and told me he could never find a good sounding returned cartridge older than 5 years due to suspension degredation, but i suspect things have moved on since then, esp an expensive Lyra built cart like yours. Might be worth asking the Linn helpline.

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1800 sounds like quite a lot of hours, and 5 years is toward the long end, so it may well be starting to get tired. In any event, if it doesn’t sound as good as it did, your ears are probably not wrong.

Linn’s trade-in terms may well be relevant. However, you might opt to jump to Lyra this time, given the rather different level of generosity - if you like the sound enough.

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Kandid is Lyra and I’d probably stick with one there are lots of issues reading around about Exstatik failures.
Another forum has a thread on it. :-1:t2:

7

As I understand it, swapping old Kandid for new knocks £800 from the £4,175 new price. Perhaps the lower trade-in reflects who makes them, which you may be hinting at.

A Lyra Kleos is £2,895 new or £1,995 net new-for-old. A Lyra Etna Lambda costs £4,480 to swap, or £4,830 if trading in a Kleos, Delos or older Lyra versus £6,695 new.

This may also be relevant: -

I went from Krystal to Kleos, so can’t comment on SQ versus Kandid. Others will know more.

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I’ve had two faulty Krystal’s in a row with hundreds between the serial numbers so would never recommend.
I changed to Krystal from my Troika being over 20 years old and was mint but obsolete I thought I was treating myself with it also having the three point mount.
More fool me I bit the bullet and went Kandid different planet completely and a lovely neural signature.
The prices have shot up and think is rather expensive now for what it is comparable now in the Lyra range so will probably end up a private sale for someone to trade in as I’m certainly not going any higher in the Linn range.

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9

It’s getting pretty hard to justify high MC cartridge costs these days.

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10

You’re so right.
Unless we pays fortune for good new vinyl these days the rest is rubbish and grossly overpriced to fleece enthusiasts and appeal to collectors that never play them.

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Thanks guys - appreciate the views. Sounds like another back account emptying event is on the horizon. I hadn’t appreciated how much Linn’s higher end cartridges had sky-rocketed in price. 4175GBP is likely to translate into $5K before the trade in, so a $4K outlay probably. Blimey. I’ll take my time and try to listen to a few alternatives from Dynavector and Lyra before diving in for another Kandid

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Lyra Delos or Kleos will keep the signature just choose the price point. :+1:t2:

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