Show us your Sondek

Thanks for reply VR. Nice story too! It’s one of those cartridges that has its own thang going on if my memory is vaguely correct… Interesting you mention the K9 too. That was my cart before I upgraded to the Karma and the DNM/250 and was used into an original Nait 1. Loved it too. When I bought my first Sondek in 1985 I was correctly guided towards stretching to an Ittok, but the dealer told me if I had such a great arm then the cartridge didn’t matter and a Linn Basik would be fine. I went with his advice. He was wrong! Thankfully, replacement, only a week or so later, with a K9 restored my Universe to harmony. Lovely.

Hi, Brand new to the forum today. My #1 is a Frankendek, never existed with a Linn S/N. Has a Harban Makore plinth, Karousel, Kore, Kahn, Radikal A, Ekos ll, Koetsu Black. Oh, and one of those snazzy Collaro Audio red mats. First mat I’ve ever encountered that is actually an upgrade over the standard Linn felt mat. Doesn’t require siding, either. A Keel is being shipped to me now from England; the Karousel is so overwhelmingly good that it deserves to be mounted to the best subchassis available. Plus, I have to know, how good can this get??

I also have a second deck, standard 1980 with no upgrades, Ittok and a DV 20x2L. Removed a bad Valhalla with a stuck motor and replaced it with a red button affair, sort of a yin/yang thing compared to it’s stablemate. Still has the red paint on the fasteners underneath.

Both tables have had their platters clocked. I use a 36/4 torque driver to ensure consistent optimized builds. Learned the craft from Marcus T, back when I was a Linn dealer here in Austin.

Regarding the Karousel, it replaced a Cirkus that was ~6 months old, combined with a TPT. The Karousel completely blew it away. It’s the first upgrade in 30 years that has left me speechless. I can’t find words to describe the degree of improvement. Once it becomes widely available, I suspect it will quickly become a new standard bearer.

Both tables are connected to a Austin Audio Arts Black Swan phono stage. It’s made locally, and when the builder offered to let me be one of his beta testers, it was immediately apparent that he was on to something. It’s far and away the finest sounding phono stage I’ve had in my system, and I haven’t been compelled to try anything else in the 4 years I’ve had it.

15 Likes

Welcome TexaDek- love your Klock!
Can you share a bit more about your phono stage?
ATB,
Mark

Welcome to the forum! Do you do your LP12 building/upgrading yourself? I have no aptitude for such.

It looks like the Black Swan phono stage is “only” $1500.00 That’s not a lot vs. others; would be interested to hear what you have compared it to.

It’s a two box unit, has a separate power supply. Capacitive and Resistive loading is continuously variable on the fly, as is gain. Has two switchable inputs, MM or MC. The fellow who designed it was one of the lead designers for SAE back in the 70s. I realize that much of that might raise an eyebrow, and I wouldn’t typically lean towards a device like this that had so many pots on the front panel. But, as I mentioned, it performs at an exceptionally high level. I haven’t talked to the gentleman in quite a long time at this point, so I can’t comment on how close he may or may not be to his goal of commercial production. I may well be one of 2 or 3 people who are using this device.

Thanks for the welcome! I have been an LP12 tech for nearly 30 years, so yes, I do all of my own work. In fact, since the store I used to work at closed, I’m the only guy in town to service a Linn. Even though I’m not at all involved in the HiFi business professionally anymore, I continue to do setups and upgrades for those who know me, or have found me. I made it a goal to figure out every trick there was back when I was a young dealer, at which time setting up a Linn was still regarded as a bit of a dark art. I wanted to demystify it, and became a good enough tech to have some clients willing to pay for me to travel cross country to service their decks. It’s a love of mine.

You must’ve done some research on the Black Swan; I honestly haven’t looked to see what is out there on it. My reply above details some of my thoughts about it, so no sense in repeating them. I have had many different phono stages in my system, and frankly couldn’t remember enough to start listing them. I can say that I have not had the opportunity to try either the Urika or it’s digital evolution, nor have I had any Naim stages in my system. I realize that those are the most likely comparison points in this group, so I want to be clear on that. Frankly, I can’t be bothered to try anything else at this point.
The Black Swan has things covered quite nicely, and I’m happy with it. I find the most enjoyment in making the turntable work as well as possible. Even though my Ekos is great, at some point it will become a focus point for me. Why does that stupid Ekos SE have to cost so damned much??

2 Likes

Thanks for your insight on the Black Swan…and the Ekos SE costs what it does because they can… :sunglasses: Rock on!

2 Likes

Yeah, I couldn’t bring myself to spoil the look of the Aro by installing the TP Elevator.

@Bart – cueing the Aro by hand is a bit like riding a bike: odd at first, but quickly becomes second nature.

2 Likes

Because they can. :stuck_out_tongue:

Cirkus, ARO, Heed Zene (Benz Ace SL variant), Armageddon, Superline with 500 ohm Z Plug.

I’ve had LP12s since the late 70s. Without going into minute detail, arms from Grace G707 through Syrinx PU3, Dynavector, Ittok, Nima to ARO. Carts from Supex SD900 through most of the Linns from Asak to Akiva.

The ARO is a country mile ahead of any of the other arms and the Heed suits it very nicely. Sounds great and gets a fair bit of use.

15 Likes

Please don’t ask NeilS for parts as he cannot supply these. Anything like this should be directed through your dealer and/or distributor.

Still have my G-707

15 Likes

It’s often the simpler products and systems I like most, there comes a time when it becomes so complex that it becomes counter productive

Others will disagree with me and I totally understand and respect that

2 Likes

I suggest you contact Peter Swain, or have a look on the @Cymbiosis website, as I know that he has, at least in the past, sourced several after market parts for the Aro from independent sources.

1 Like

Hi Guys, you will be pleased to hear that the “Aro guy” still very much works at HQ!
As for servicing, I’m not sure on that one - parts are like hen’s teeth now.

@NeilS
Could you find out if NAUK would let the ARO guy ( IIRC Clyde? was his name ? ) can still rewire an ARO?
I know a 3rd party offers it but I have seen some shoddy work so would be good if you guys can still service it.

Thanks.

Close. It’s Clive. But I do like “Aro Guy”…

1 Like

ah!

@KJC
Interesting comments. I also purchased my deck new with Ittok/Basik couldn’t stretch to the Asak/Asaka ? that I wanted at the time. The Basik was quickly replaced with a K9 which was much better. A few years later decided to get a Karma having listened to one at a friends with a similar Linn/Naim system.Arranged with a dealer to get one fitted, but he insisted that it would be better to fit the then new Cirkus upgrade first. I didn’t agree at first, so he fitted a Karma to my deck (as it was) and then we compared it to another deck with Circus fitted with a K9…I had to eat humble pie…he was right…the Cirkus/K9 fitted deck obviously sounded better…the Karma would have to wait till another day

V_R

2 Likes

I always loved that arm, quite superb!

The Grace G707 was/is a fine arm, worked exceedingly well with the Supex SD900.

Linn’s recommended tonearm before they started making their own.