Not rubbish at all and mine sounds rather good with a Chord Company interconnect😁
And a Chord mains lead on a Klimax takes it to another level…
Which Chord lead are you using Dave? It does frustrate me that I can’t fit a Powerline in the back of the RadikalK…
I use a standard Linn mains lead on my Klimax Radikal fitted with a 15 amp round pin plug configured to U.K. regs.
I preferred this to a Chord Sarum T mains cable (13 amp plug).
I also tried a Chord Music mains lead (13 amp plug) and thought it was very similar and possibly only just slightly better to my Linn lead with 15 amp round pin plug. I did not consider it worth the significant cost of a Chord Music mains lead to match, or only slightly improve on, what I had.
Richard
2 Likes
Currently I’m using a Sarum T, which can be supplied with a Linn-suitable IEC. AFAIK Chord will supply any of their mains leads with the same.
Like FF I’m also using 15amp plugs, which make a difference. Unlike FF, however, I found thar even the old Chord purple mains leads were better than the Linn oruginals, again that was with 15amp plugs.
I also used a Powerline with my Akurate Radikal and it was a definite improvement on the Linn cable. Replaced that with an early Chord Sarum, which was better again. Chord were able to reterminated that cable to suit my move to the Klimax Radikal.
morning @Dreadatthecontrols
I’ve had a Lingo 4 for a year now and really like what is offers to the deck, I will be having a pre fix installed very soon at the moment stageline S powered by HCDR so for me a pre powered by HCDR and Lingo 4 controlling speed is as close to baby Radikal
the Radikal is a superb power supply and control, but I as you was thiking could I spent the £££ better or more effectiviley on the deck - I think the radikal comes into it’s own when you have a Linn Urika either 1 or 2 I am more than happy
What I can say is a friend came around to has i higher spec deck than mine Keel and cartridge powered by geddon and superline, he is now moving onto Lingo 4
I think lingo 4 Pre with PSU is very close to Akurate, having heard Kilmax radikal thats my end game but more than happy were I am at the moment
Last year I moved from an Armageddon to a Lingo 4 and found it to be far better. My next move was to replace a 4 year old Dynavector XX-2 with a Krystal. Another huge upgrade. Finally, I replaced the Stageline with a Rega Aria.
All upgrades are wonderful and are my way of not being sucked over the Klimax event horizon.
I have put a Powerline Lite on the Lingo 4 and a full fat Powerline on the Aria, but I suppose I might have got this the wrong way round.
Keith
Thanks Dave. I was hoping it might be one of their cheaper ones…! I will look into it at some point and compare with the current Powerline Lite that I’m using.
To the OP: L4 is a great bit of kit, a lot better than any of the earlier Lingo’s and a good slice of what’s on offer from Radikal, but as the rightly revered Peter once wrote, it’s ultimately close, but no cigar. The use of direct drive motors implemented in the Radikals is for a reason and you can hear the difference.
Kevin
Although the Powerline worked well on my Akurate, it’s not always worked so well on other bits of kit. When I used to have an NDac, XPS and Ikemi (great combo) the Powerline was good on the NDac but made everything shout when I tried it on the XPS and the Ikemi.
I tried one again a couple of weeks ago when I was working on optimising my Cisco switch and it was a disaster. Of course it’s worth trying it out, but don’t assume it’ll always be better, you may find the lite or the original Rega lead is more suited.
Interesting, I have a Powerline Lite on my Cisco because I had a spare and didn’t bother to check before and after to see if it helped. I just assumed it would. I’ve also isolated it on oak cones sat on an Ikea bamboo chopping board because Hifi Critic said it helped (and again, I had the cones and bamboo so why not).
So, firstly my system;
LP12,Lingo 3, Trampolin 2,Cirkus,Ekos 2,Dynavector 17D3, Prefix Olive HICAP.
NAC 202, NAPSC, HICAP DR, IXO 2 x NAP 90’s, Allae.
I was initially contemplating a Lingo 4 and Tiger Paw upgrades as per my previous posts. However dealer suggested for the prospective spend the Radikal ought to be on my shopping list. So a home demo of both, installed on my LP12 was agreed.
Sorry to use an overused cliche but from the off the Lingo 4 was a revelation. Playing a Classic Records pressing of Dave Brubeck Take Five from Time Out, I was taken aback with the new found clarity and openness to the sound, to use another cliche it was jaw on the floor stuff. The Lingo 3 by comparison sounded grainy distorted and muddled and I couldn’t believe that I had previously enjoyed the L3 so much. With the L4 the sound opens out and I could hear each instrument more clearly in its own space, Brubecks piano to the right, Paul Desomonds Alto beautifully floating between the speakers and Joe Morrello’s drums stage left. This is significant to me as I live in a cottage with unusually shaped rooms and I’m forced to position the speakers closer together than would normally be considered optimal. With stereo recordings I used to tend to hear what could be described as big mono. I don’t usually place soundstaging necessarily particularly high on my list of attributes, musicality is more important but this added openness and dimension was very welcome and insightful. Above all though was the way the L4 seized upon Brubecks vamping piano and presented it so insistently, likewise Morrello’s drumming where I was picking up nuances not previously heard such as a double kick he puts in after each roll the second kick struck harder than the first, then Desmonds beautifully expressive alto floating in the space between Morello and Brubeck. The tune was so insistent that I had the tune of Take Five in my head for several days!
And things continued in a similar vein over extended listening sessions no matter what music was played, bringing that digging deep for “Just one more record” (cliche again sorry)late into the night that such a sense of involvement brings.
I would have been quite happy to leave it there and call on the services of my flexible friend and be very happy rediscovering my record collection (another cliche sorry).
So the following week I went to collect the Radikal and unexpectedly received a Klimax cased model. Dealer opined that it wasn’t better than an Akurate model, just sounds a little different, if I liked what I heard from the Klimax then an Akurate would be fine. I found myself disagreeing, lifting the heavy machined casework from the packaging, it’s a marvellous piece of engineering I thought it hard not to believe that it would significantly influence the sound.
Listening to Brubeck again with the Klimax Radikal, the sound became bolder, fuller, controlled and authoritative, especially in the lower frequencies. The sound was more focused, for example Paul Desmonds Alto was now firmly focused between the speakers rather than “floating” as I had heard with the L4, the sound of his Alto had more body and presence as did the piano and drums where by comparison with the L4 the drums now had a solidity and timbre that sounded more like real drums, by comparison Morello sounded on the L4 like he was playing biscuit tins, albeit very musical ones!
Everything was better defined and more dynamic on the Radikal. There was a very quiet dark background from which the musicians appeared to step forward from the speakers. By comparison the L4 sounded veiled and set back with what appeared to be a slightly brighter and perhaps airyer background akin to the background sound of an FM tuner, that was grainy and less focused. On the L4 Morrello sounded more like he was clattering around the drums where on the Radikal the musicians sounded more disciplined and less excitable.
All great then? Well despite all of these very welcome characteristics, My wife and I were both left underwhelmed as initially we didn’t seem to be feeling the same involvement factor, tunefullnes etc which apart from the chin stroking academia of the presentation of the Radikal just left us cold. Along with the darker background and deeper weight to the sound there appeared to be a thickening or muddying of the lower registers, rendering plucked double bass strings or dense recordings harder to follow, robbing the music of swing. Congo Man from Earnest Ranglins Below The Bassline which should have sounded awesome with the added depth came across with the drums and bass colliding into an ill defined black muddy soup. Although Ernie Ranglins guitar was well defined and sticks on cymbals rendered with precision and clarity.
So, took a rain check until the following day and had a further extended session with the same music, and glad I did, as things started to open up and become transparent in the lows, restoring the swing, involvement and musicality that I thought was missing, this appeared to improve over the next day or so until I could now clearly hear the deep, low notes, from the amplified acoustic double bass on Congo Man. Listening to some dub reggae and the bassline went down through the floorboards into the kitchen below! The fuller forward presentation and dark background served well on “noisy” records, Reaching for a Jamaican pressed copy of Horace Andy Skylarking on Studio One ( these pressings often leave much to be desired) I was gobsmacked by how much previously apparent surface noise just disappeared into the background, sure clicks and pops were still there but way back in the presentation to be of no consequence.
Throughout listening sessions I kept wondering how much of what I was hearing was down to the Klimax casework, so asked the dealer if he could get an Akurate to compare so I could at least rule that out.
The following week I set up both Radikals alongside, after carrying out a re set on both units I kept both powered up ( I had earlier powered down the Klimax so both units were starting out from cold). This meant that all I needed to do was swap the motor cable between them for quick A/B Tune dems and also listened to each on its own for longer periods before swapping.
In a nutshell tune dem comparisons revealed little difference in musicality (PRaT) but the other differences I have tried to describe make the Radikal the go to choice if it’s within reach.
The difference between the Klimax and Akurate were very similar in terms to the difference I heard between Klimax vs L4 and L4 vs L3. Throughout listening sessions I made the occasional needledrop from the different power supplies to a Denon CDR and played back on a Naim CD 3.5/Flatcap. Comparing the needledrop of L4 to Akurate Radikal did seem to show subjectively little between them.
In fact I ended up doing a lot of comparisons in a futile attempt to deny my ears and convince myself that the Klimax wasn’t worth the extra cost. However every time I switched back to the Akurate I could feel I was missing what the Klimax brought to the party.
So my personal conclusion would be that in Linn terms the L4 is a bargain, it closes the gap to an Akurate Radikal to make the Akurate not worth to my ears the double price tag.
If it’s within ones budget though the Klimax should be heard.
During my listening I read a HiFi + review of the L4 in which the reviewer concluded that the L4 is the best upgrade to any LP12 that doesn’t have a Radikal. I would clarify that to say any LP12 that doesn’t have a Klimax Radikal.
One slight caveat about the L4, I was a little concerned over it’s speed control consistency. It took a long time to lock on from initial start up and then would go off when changing sides, I would stand around like waiting for an overdue bus for it to settle only for it to go off again when changing the record. Linn say that no drag must be put on the platter, which inevitably can happen when changing records, pethaps suggesting that the platter should be stopped between sides. No such issue with the Radikal.
7 Likes
So far I’m finding that the mains lead that came with my Melco has been best and it really likes being placed on 3 x Sonority low cones on a Fraim shelf.
The Powerline was weird as it was very dynamic but aggressively so. It completely upset the balance of the system and lost musical cohesion.
Great review. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to do this.
I have LP12,circus,trampolin2,kore,lingo2,Uphorik,Ittok DVXX2.
I will be making a trip to Leicester maybe next year. I have a brand new Ekos Se1 arm sitting around.
Was thinking possibly Lingo 4 and maybe switching cartridge to Krystal after audition of course.
I definitely can’t stretch to Klimax Radikal but I am a bit concerned about Lingo 4 and getting to correct speed issues.
Prem.
I discussed this with the dealer, he has noticed it and going to check it out (see also my comment earlier in this thread)
After listening at length to all 3 PS options I have decided to go the Klimax Radikal route and add a Keel. I would be cautious about moving from an L4 to an Akurate Radikal, see my attempt at a write up above
4 Likes
Correct decision! Are you taking advantage of the lower price with the bundled Urika too? That would be the most logical approach in my opinion, although a bit more expensive in the short term.
No, I have Naim Prefix which I’m ok with at the moment, but I have ordered a Keel (Linn 15% deal)
I also got a fair trade in for my Lingo 3
Actually I wasn’t aware there is a bundle deal with a Urika
I’ve had my Lingo 4 for a year, at the end of a side the LED will glow bright as I lift, turn, cue. Then dims as I lower the arm again. I’ve not tried to time it, but seconds.
Just before you commit to the Klimax, consider what power cable you’re going to use and you really should demo that choice of cable with the Klimax and Akurate first. The Powerline only fits the Akurate.
Very wise move getting the Keel before anything else. It’s what I was going to suggest when you first posted, but didn’t think you’d follow the advice. Nice one.