It’s coming up to the time for the next upgrade and wondering which way to go of many avenues. I’m of the mindset of upgrading my source component (LP12), but with so many areas to improve, I’m at another one of those ‘which way first’ moments.
Previously, I was planning on an urika and maybe a better sub chassis, then ended up with an 250DR!
So, I’m at that moment again. I currently have 2 hicap 2’s feeding power to the Nac82 and had thought about trading these in for a supercap (either olive or supercap2) to offset the cost. I then have enough for a 52 by trading in my 82, or… Do I go supercap and then invest more into the turntable for the moment? Is a supercap much better than 2 hicaps??
I have a black ittok, is this better to look at swapping out to an aro or ekos2, which then helps me choose a more final subchassis rather than drilling a kore/keel until I change arm?
Is an aro or ekos2 ‘that much’ better than a black ittok?? The alternative is I could just replace arm and cartridge now (my Hana SL is probably due for a change soon-ish). Would I need a much better arm to hear a better cartridge (like Lyra Delos/Kleos level)?
Or, would you all look at subchassis and phono stage next? A kore/keel (keeping the ittok) and ditch the internal MC boards for an urika??
There are so many avenues and would like a bit of advice to which you guys would look at improving next.
My system is LP12 with karousel, magic chassis, black ittok with Hana SL with a radikal 1. Then I have 2xhicap2s feeding a Nac82 with internal MC boards into a nap250DR with SBL speakers.
Open to ideas and suggestions as I feel as every way I look at it, I’m sacrificing one large area by choosing another. Can’t afford to do them all at the same time, so best improvement step first ideally!
Silly question perhaps given that you have said you don’t know which way to go, but what is it that you feel you are missing in the current set up?
For me , without hearing it I’d say look to get to a SupercapDR/252 ( or 52) first before anything else. The if you feel the Linn needs some development look at that. If the Hana is sounding sweet then I’m not sure you need to upgrade the Linn until you replace the cart.
In essence, it’s driven more by knowing how much there is still to go on the upgrade path than being let down by anything as such. I just know how much more is possible.
The Hana does sound great, but it was always my starter cartridge rather than my end goal. As it’s a few years old now (3 years now, which I’m guessing it’ll be coming up for renewal soon).
For the LP12, replacing the board in the A/Radikal chassis to Radikal 2 is worthwhile. The subchassis would also be in my sights as a next upgrade.
For what it’s worth, I actually installed Urika-1 before any sub-chassis upgrades (at the time I had Circus bearing and associated sub-chassis). I installed Radikal and Urika-1 at same time. It was a huge improvement over my Lingo and Stageline setup at that time.
In any event, Cymbiosis would be the place for advice on the next steps.
The difference between A/Rad-1 and A/Rad-2 was significant to my ears - lower noise floor, pops and clicks less intrusive and more detail.
You are correct in that it’s difficult to say whether Urika or Radikal-1 made the biggest difference. When bought as a pair it is cheaper so that was the biggest factor in influencing my purchase decision. But together the upgrade was enormous over my existing setup and BEFORE any Sub-Chassis upgrades were applied (they came later)
For your info, at the time I was also using Ekos-2 and Arkiv cartridge.
52 Supercap is a great upgrade over 82 and 2 HiCaps. I have had both and a 52 is a great preamp.
The Kore is a good upgrade. But if you want full Klimax eventually bypass this and go straight to Keel.
I went from Akito to Ekos 2 and it was a lovely upgrade too. Not sure about Aro has I haven’t gone down that route.
The other thing to do is look at end game system. So in the end I went full LP12 Klimax. I ended up doing KRadikal 2, Urika I, Keel, Ekos SE/1 and Kandid in one hit.
If you are doing the upgrades in incremental steps then maybe do the 52 Supercap upgrade first.
Then maybe do Keel and tonearm/cart upgrades.
You will spend less money in the end if each upgrade is permanent. So look at getting Ekos SE/1 rather than Ekos 2. And look at getting Keel instead of Kore.
Before I finalised going Full Klimax I was going to keep Kore, Ekos 2 and Dynavextor XX2 MkII. It sounded superb. I was just going to go Radikal 1 Akurate.
So with what you have an excellent mid spec LP12 would be Ekos 2, Kore and leave the rest as it is. The Radikal 1 is superb.
The Ekos-2 did not outclass the Ittok that preceded it. The Ittok is fine. I picked up the Ekos2 as ex-dem from my dealer so was something of a bargain. Wouldn’t necessarily have done it otherwise.
As for Sub-chassis, my subsequent upgrade path was
I’d say it was better for sure though perhaps more incremental than night and day. As Dan said, Kore is a good subchassis - my dealer of the time felt it gets you 75% of what Keel does.
My Kore was still quite new when I upgraded to Keel so was able to get a reasonable trade in for it.
So when I went Kore I didn’t know how I wanted my LP12 to end up. I got Cirkus and Kore done about 5 years ago. Then got Karousel done. Had Lingo 1 at time.
Then Ekos 2 and Dynavector XX2 Mk II and Tom Evans The Groove +SRX power supply and Trampolin 2.
Then went full Klimax.
The Keel is best sub chassis. It seems like you are going down full Klimax route eventually. So maybe get Keel over Kore.
Yeah, your upgrade path has been bonkers @Dan_M… Brilliant to follow, but way beyond my means!
I don’t really have a budget as such, as I’m going to try and part ex some stuff against if I go that way. To be fair, I can get a supercap and trade in the hicaps for not too much difference, so that’s almost a bit of a non-decision I guess. That paves the way for a 52/252 in future. I have seen the odd 52/252 come up, so have thought about it. Again, never heard one to know but the reviews are mixed, even though it’s an iconic product.
Feedback from @AlanJ suggests maybe my ittok would still be ok, so maybe arm isn’t priority. So maybe subchassis and possibly rad update to rad2 is still where I need to be.
I haven’t got there yet but my next upgrade will be to Hana Umami red. I think I need a better arm to get the best from it. I guess the driver for your Linn upgrade will be the cart you intend to run.
I still think the 52/252 will give the best path at the moment. It will improve on your current set up and give you a good base for the Linn upgrade when it comes.
