I can’t speak for the Rad or Urika but the combination of Karousel, Keel, Ekos SE (and in my case, Kandid) is one that wins my heart every play…bless the old fruit box, even if very little remains from my original 80’s one, lol.
Emailed dealer asking for bigger discount on Karousel. My NDS screen was replaced but now remote doesn’t work and bottom of fascia panel is chipped. Been a palova tbh. Nothing running smoothly.
NDS is great but want it right in case I sell it on.
Dealers are good. But they have to wait on Naim for responses who are slow.
Nice turntable set up! Dealers recommend Radikal before Ekos SE. But said Lingo 4 is alot better than Lingo 1. They said Karousel as number 1. Then Radikal.
Then finally look at tonearm and Keel. You have most of it anyhow!
I have 2 LP12’s ( in different locations so haven’t compared side by side)
LP12 Klimax 40th anniversary with Radikal 1 and Karousel update
LP12 ARO fully maxed out with Keel etc . Still running with the Naim Armageddon PS, still sounds really good , there is something about the ARO/Armageddon combo to me
I’ve stopped at Karousel, Kore, Lingo 4 and won’t be changing that bar a lottery win or inheritance. The Karousel is a no brainer unless you prefer the sound of the early LP12s and used Radikal 1 is now a cost effective alternative to a new Lingo 4 so I would probably go that route as well. A Karousel, Kore, Radikal 1 is probably all TT you will ever need. Let’s face it there is always something better out there and more expensive but you might not need it.
If that happened to any of my kit on a return from service, I would not accept it. It should come back in the same state with the repair or service done
The NDS went off to Naim for screen replacement and there was a small nick on bottom right front corner when it came back. And the remote no longer works. The dealers are working with Naim to try to get replacement fascia of unit.
It looks like the unit has been updated and the old remote is no longer paired.
So the dealer is working with Naim to get things sorted.
In the meantime they have given me large discount on Karousel.
The LP12 is being dropped off at Audio T Brighton tomorrow for a Karousel bearing fitted.
I am very excited about this as everyone has recommended that I get this done.
Have been streaming mainly with ND5XS2 used as transport into NDS.
Some damage was done to NDS along the way so Audio T are trying their best to deal with this as well. It’s minor but will be good to have it at it’s best.
Looking at new fascia when Naim can source them.
Anyhow it’s a minor issue. The important thing is the music which sounds astounding!
Hello Dan, replying here rather than on system pics - before it gets locked & cleansed X)
I’ve tried XS3 internal stage, Stageline N and Graham Slee Accession. All with my XS3.
The XS3 and Stageline both sounded pretty similar with my old TT - a Systemdek IIXE running a Goldring 1042 stylus in a Roksan Corus body. Unfortunately I found out fairly recently that the tonearm cable I was running, and “upgraded” to, is particularly unsuitable for MM cartridges, so I was likely not getting the best from either. It sounded fine to me in isolation, and I hadn’t heard any other systems in years at that point, so the upgrades all sounded mostly better, just not as good as they could have sounded.
When I added the Accession the jump was pretty big, even with the poorly matched cable and cartridge combination. Everything was better. It’s hard to judge these things, but it was kinda the same sort of change as CD5 to Chord Hugo was on my digital setup.
When I upgraded my TT to the SL1200, and added the DV10x5, well, that just sparkled, and growled, and sounded like the incredible upgrade it is. I haven’t since tried the Technics through the internal stage, or Stageline. I suspect both would sound better than they did, particularly at the top end, due to better compatibility of a low capacitance phono cable, and HOMC that is less sensitive to capacitance loading than my old 1042. I’m too busy enjoying it all to try But there’s no way they’d beat the Accession.
The short answer is that even with the suboptimal setup, the Accession was much better than XS3 and Stageline. I paid about £700 or £750 for my Accession + Enigma PSU, used.
That’s fantastic news and sounds like a great upgrade.
I am more thinking if I ever do any further upgrades on my LP12 the next step would be Radikal of some kind. Used from £1700 for Radikal 1 in Akurate case. The Radikal 2 Klimax is obviously better and can be had used for £4250.
And with the Radikal or Radikal 2 the Urika phonostage appeals.
But would the Graham Slee Accession beat the Urika.
And of course with Urika looking at low output MC cart. So then it all starts costing big bucks to change out.
The Lingo 4 is another option and is meant to be alot better than the Lingo 1.
I’m only doing the Karousel as it was funded by the sale of my 82 and the dealer knocked off alot of money as there were some problems with my NDS screen replacement. The remote no longer works and the bottom right hand corner of the fascia got damaged somehow.
Aye, I thought long and hard, and even started a thread about high end MM vs equivalent cost MC. I decided MM (ok, HOMC, but with semi reasonable replacement costs) in the end… and yet I’m looking out for used Accession MCs. For no other reason than I’ve never really heard a MC and think perhaps I should at some point before I settle back and live with what I have