Agree with that Bluedog. I prefer the modern LP12 sound and thoroughly enjoy my Kandid. A pre Cirkus LP12 with a Troika will sound very different and was not to my taste back in the day. I bought a Xerxes instead. However, if you like that sound who am I to say it’s wrong. It just has to give you pleasure from your records however you like it.
Stu
I’ve attended a CSO performance of Aida last nite. And this tenor’s voice was so jarring and hard as the volume went up, it reminded me of a horrible cartridge mistracking. It literally gave me an earache! 
The most painful Celeste Aida I have ever heard!
If this was a record, I will be getting up and tossing out either a cartridge or a record or both!
Here’s the thing. A rebuild Troika does not sound warm and cuddly tho I agree that tonally this has a warmer balance than Krystal, Akiva or Kandid. My previous experience with a Troika was always a nice cartridge but only does midrange.
I no longer have either Akiva or Kandid but I am certainly not suggesting Troika is better in terms of frequency reach or detail retrieval. But still works so well in the context of ARO and Naim based system musically without much old baggage.
Ittok/82/250 into Briks eh?
I wonder how this Troika does on a EKOS SE/552/500 into the Briks.
But I can’t say that now with this new one. I think also that in the past, Troika was often partnered with non-Cirkused Sondek which adds some mud.
Rebuilt Troika has a groovy bass tho current Linn range or Akiva digs deeper in the bass.
So far no tracking errors, but I haven’t played any tough music on it yet. A ton of fun on Thomas Dolby.
Hi Kuma
Don’t get me wrong- in an ideal world I would have LP12/Ittok/Troika/32/250/‘Briks or Kans in my study and my LP12/Keel/Radikal/Ekos SE/Kandid/52/SC/135 main system. Both great systems but doing quite different things. But I have to say with room for only one system it has to be the later. Enjoy your (son of) Troika.
well, @kuma – you got me. i bought a knackered Troika this weekend and am having it sent to Goldring for a rebuild. i have an Aro and like the idea of trying the cartridge around which the arm was designed. my phono stage is a DV P75 mk.4, but i also have a Ryan Sound Lab MC phono coming this summer for a trial. should be fun.
i’ll add that i too was not a fan of the DL-103 on the Aro, even in Zu Audio alloy-bodied guise. talk about mistracking! that puppy was all over the place and didn’t sound all that great even when it wasn’t misbehaving.
switched to a DV 20x2L (which i use with a Dynavector SUT and the P75) and have been happy – but experimentation is what this hobby’s about!
Report back and share your experience!
I am curious to see what you think of it.
Have you ever heard a Troika before?
I’ve been playing a several Brahms Symphony 2 recordings.
Please do report back, I had a chat with David a few days ago and at the moment my intention is to replace my DV20 with a Goldring Troika, once I have put some more miles on the DV. Be interested in your thoughts and impressions.
Cheers.
Mr. U.
How many hours on your DV20H?
Have you had a chance to try other cartridge?
Only about fifty since I changed it last …from a DV20H!
I have a friend who has a couple at home which he is willing to pop over with, and another who THINKS he may have a Troika lying around.
I have been mainly streaming for years, and have used the LP12 to rip LPs. I recently had a slight upset with my Focal speakers and have ended up with SBLs. I fired up the LP12 and thought, ‘Well, this is rather nice’. The sound had some real bounce and energy. It is NOT that the Klimax is lacking, it is just a slightly different approach. It may also be home turf advantage, I imagine the SBLs were developed with the LP12/Aro/Geddon in mind.
An LP12 with SBLs is a beautiful thing IMO. Enjoy.
@kuma and @MrUnderhill – will do! i should have the Troika in a month and a half, or so. i’m really looking forward to it and will let you know how i get on.
Kuma, i’ve never heard a Troika before, but your description of “bouncy bass” made me pull the trigger. for me, that kind of organic bass tone is one of the things that vinyl playback really nails.
sb,
You are not going to get a siesmic bass out of Troika but what’s there is organic with a slight upper mid bass rise which gives a warm tone. A kind of bass that gives me a smile. I have heard a Troika before but I didn’t realise it can do ‘groovy bass’.
I promise, it will be much more fun than any Denons on ARO!
‘Slightly’ different? lol
Understatement of the day!
I’m in the minority here but I am still not convinced of Klimax DC motor. It was good in terms of noise reduction but sucked the life out along with it next to a 'Geddon.
Hi Kuma,
Klimax = Klimax DS. 
I too use a Geddon.
I like both my digital and vinyl front ends and can happily listen to either.
I’m with Kuma and Mr Underhill on this one, I went from a Lingo to Armeggedon theirs such a synergy between an Aro and Armeggedon.
I use a Tangerine Audio Stiletto, with their Plateau, Kiseki Blue NS cartridge.
Regards,
Martin
Hi Martin,
The Tangerined LP12 is excellent. I went to a Statement demo which mainly used an NDS with Sopra 2s. The event was interesting, but the whole system came to life when a Tangerined LP12 was used.
Ah. You went for a Linn route for streaming. It’s too relaxed for my taste but I can see their attraction. I get aggravated by a computer glitch easily so I am still on a side line on this whole streaming thing. Much easier to just put on a record or hit play on a CD player!
Mr Underhill,
Would that have been at Infidelity evening?
Regards,
Martin
I won’t deflect your nicely targeted thread.
