[quote=“DiggyGun, post:414, topic:29826”]
I looked at the Javelin when upgrading from my Linn Akito.
In the end, went with a Linn Ekos SE, which Peter at Cymbiosis did me a nice deal on.
DG…
I concur completely.
That would have been my only non Linn Choice had I chosen that route but synergy is everything.
Perfectly happy with my decision and that dealer too. 
Going by his level of commitment that is his old shop taking the delivery of one batch.
I’d say his involvement was much more than closely. 
I think Ray actually retired in 2021. Colin then took over fettling my LP12. Ray was a lovely man, always enjoyed seeing him.
One of the 25 is missing.
Must be the dem one not mine. 
His expression says “ What have I done ? “ all these to sell. 
Oh, well spotted! 
So Linn make a few TTs available at £50k, Chord sell a few cables at £xK etc and people start to get all emotitional. I just say these are UK industries in a niche market creating employment opportunities, providing highly engineered products that make great music. It’s not like the people doing this are Gates rich. Of course as an alternative you could always buy an Amazon Echo knocked up in China, now that is making someone very filthy rich.
I think that he retired much earlier than 2021. I haven’t spoken to him in years.
I have emails from him ( at Grahams ) to 2019, so I may be a year out…but I clearly remember seeing him at the shop (to get some work done) in 2020.
At that time, they had a desk by the front door* so no access to the shop for obvious reasons.
*The desk may have been 2021. Covid blur.
When access was again permissible I took a bottle of champagne in for the staff. Hope Ray got some!
Several dealers were asking back then actually, not just Ray and I.
I supplied the two Aros to David Williamson for his extended research on the project and we bounced quite a number of ideas between us to ensure the Keel/A was extracting the maximum it could from the Aro. 
Quite a number of dealers took Keel/As originally. I gather mainly in ones or twos and nobody wanted to put one on permanent demo, rather the dealers just wanted to look after their known clients – Fair enough I guess, and it was a good bet when having to buy blind. I think Ray may have put one on demo at that time, but I’m not sure. I had one on demo and still do to this day along with 6 additional tops - Very useful.
In about 2013 faced with dwindling orders and the very sad discontinuation of the Aro after 1350 were built in the 20ish years of production. Linn took the decision to stop production of the Keel/A. I objected and Linn very kindly suggested it may be possible to make occasional batches, if I was prepared to buy the entire batch, or at least a significant proportion of it, as they would collate any advance orders from the rest of the network worldwide. The minimum order number was 25 Keels and that remains to this day. Thankfully, they haven’t upped the number 
To date I have repeated ordering an entire production batch 5 or possibly more times, and these days Linn ordinarily just direct other Linn retailers to me when they have a need for a Keel/A for a customer and I’ve looked after other retailers both in the UK and abroad.
BTW with the revision 3 Keel/A it had a revision to the webbing underneath to make for easier attachment of the lift/lower device called the Elevator that Roger Hamilton from Tiger Paw and I helped design and test. Latterly, following the demise of Tiger Paw, I’ve made a new version of the Elevator called the Lifter for the Aro in conjunction with Johnnie7 of Audio Origami. The Keel/A is now at revision 6.
One further thing to state here; moderators willing… Is that I have been able to arrange for an Aro owner to have his top re-wired in the last month given that HQ can no longer do it. A useful thing to know if any Aro owner has a problem in the future.
KR,
Peter
What revision is the keel/Ekos SE at? Does it make even sense to consider a keel with Ekos2?
Seems to work well with my Ekos SE.
(I’m not sure what the difference is between an SE and 2. There were 3 Ekos? 1, 2 and SE?)
You’ll get the most out of it and have provision for an upgrade later if you like.
Source first always best.
The Ekos SE/0 has the small head shell. SE/1 the current model has the 2.0mm larger more rounded head-shell.
Changes made following me sending David W pictures of a Dynavector XV-1 that I mounted and aligned correctly in the original head-shell. Very little space! David re-designed the head-shell in 2012 and provided us with a heavier counterweight as I had to get a mass ring fabricated for the standard counterweight as the XV1 was about 12.3g and in a perfect world you want to keep the counterweight as close to the fulcrum as possible. - Now the SE/1 was more compatable for a wider range of non Linn cartridges 
Other than a change in the finish of the lift/lower from black to silver the SE/1 has remained the same to this day FYI. BTW there is no SE/2
KR,
Peter
I am typing this on a MacBook Pro which has the Butterfly keyboard. The key board has been back twice to be fixed under warranty for a common, well known problem.
Who designed the butterfly key board I wonder???
FF
Thanks Peter. I was never sure what the ‘2’ was meant to signify.
Whether I can afford one or not, I can’t say it’s love at first site with the limited edition.
I think that part of the LP12s astonishing 50 year career, other than SQ, is its’ look. They basically got it right at the first attempt & it has become a design classic in the mould of a Fender Stratocaster & Gibson Les Paul.
To use a car analogy, most new models are the result of several years design & development work & look right as a result when launched on the market. The refresh, several years later, is usually to correct/improve technical features of the vehicle which the buyer can’t actually see. As a result visual changes are introduced to attract new buyers & persuade existing owners to ‘upgrade’. Some of the visual changes do work but a lot, in my opinion, don’t make a lot of difference & appear to be ‘changes for changes sake’.
A good example of this, in my eyes, is the Audi TT. The original was absolutely stunning & possibly the best automotive design since the original Porsche 911. Subsequent changes, initially bought about by a design fault causing rear end instability, turned it into simply a good looking car, like many others, but nowhere near as visually attractive & eye catching as the original.
I feel the limited edition LP12 is OK ish but the original was right from the start & is/will be, very hard to better. I don’t think the new one succeeds in this respect, it just looks as if someone has tinkered with it for the sake of having nothing better to do.
I know lots of you will have a different view but, that’s mine!
Revision 17 and yes early Ekos will benefit greatly from use of the Keel. The hierarchy for sound quality is 1) Bearing. 2) Power supply). 3) Sub-chassis (Keel in this case). 4) Tonearm. 5) Cartridge. Counterintuitive/unexpected - I know but it’s true!
Most revision numbers relate to very small changes and even a change of who anodises them. Early revisions will sound virtually the same BTW - They got it right first time pretty much. 
As to where the new Bedrok plinth fits into this hierarchy, I’ll just have to wait to find out!
KR,
Peter
There was an original black Ekos 2 of course. Then Linn changed the numbering on products to **/0 and **/1 …And with the streamers **/2 and onwards… Can be a bit confusing 
Definitely and I have simply not had the experience nor time with this, but I know with going from a Klyde to Akiva on my LP12 (new top plate, baseboard, cirkus bearing, lingo2, ekos2 mk2, linto) was a massive upgrade. Of course nowadays people would say it’s not worth it before doing at least kore and karousel. In a few years I will have plenty of time 
