Upgrade advice 52 or 552 or Radikal 1 Urika upgrade to Lp12

Being pedantic now.
There are two different Urika one digital that has to have an Linn system and mine that doesn’t it’s pure analogue.
The Urika is the best match for everything in my turntable setup throughout.
Why wouldn’t I have a Phono Stage that wasn’t matched perfectly then go in to my Naim amp and get rid of the Linn boxes.
The synergy of everything and very short signal paths at source won over in listening for me.

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Just a bad copy of the original Naim Prefix introduced -95.

Guys - I really think fixating on trying to level up vinyl and digital is never going to work. The 2 things are so fundamentally different.

I see it this way. Equate a Rega P3 with a Mazda MX5, and a high end Linn or Vertere with a flat 6 Porsche or straight 6 BMW. Bluesound streamer with an electric VW and dCS Vivaldi with a top Tesla whatever. The electrics are ultra modern and supposedly efficient. The petrols are a hellava great ride as do the vinyls engage you fully in the music, and like the MX5 will be a lot of fun the Rega will entertain in a way that no digital source can.

Regards,

Lindsay

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I was interested in speaking but that’s just ridiculous. :flushed:

IMG_9524

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I’ve no interest in anything that takes my vinyl down to the level of digital.
But some are easy pleased. :wink:

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:+1::+1::+1::+1:

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Sorry,but I don’t think Urika is anywhere near the Prefix,when it comes to musicality.
Linn has obviously copied the idea of the Naim Prefix( mounted inside the LP12 with short tonearm cables). Linn choose to use a switch mode powersupply,that is not helping the sound quality.

It’s all personal but I had Linn amps for many years and they still worked when I kept the synergy with Urika matching my Kandid cart but when linn dumped analogue amps I dumped Linn.
That was twice they had made my electronics obsolete so never again.
Twice through end of support then going tied in digital.
Trampolin I’m not that keen on I’d have preferred a sold baseboard instead of two opposing sets of suspension.
Bit of a trade off.

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Wondering about the overall tonal presentation now @Bevo. Looking for overall lift in cohesion, and taming the highs back a bit and adding a bit more weight and punch for rock music.

I’m guessing that the power supply, bearing and sub chassis improvements will deal with the overall cohesion, but is the frequency presentation affected by those as well, or is that more the cartridge? Just don’t want to do those upgrades and then still wonder that the cartridge isn’t the tonal balance I’m looking for.

I see that the Kendo is the match at the Select level, but it’s mighty expensive. There is a used Adkit MM (20 hrs on it) available at half retail. There was a suggestion on the cartridge thread that a good MM might be a better option for punch and weight on rock music.

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The power supply is very very important Mike and will benefit highs, lows etc and also assist in more punch , slam, weight, bass etc

I think you will be very surprised at what the Lingo 4 will bring to the party

But firstly get the tonearm looked at to see if the bearings are all OK, if not that would need attention and can be expensive. In fact get a service on the whole deck

The rule of thumb is that the cartridge is the last upgrade to be done, however some disagree.

I’ve had the Linn Aktiv MM when I started out on my Linn Majik ex demo from Harry 7 years ago. I kept it for many years but frankly didn’t rate it. MC’s are far better.

It’s finding a mid point with cartridges, I tried the Linn Krystal but found that a bit in your face and slightly rough around the edges.

I think I’ve mentioned before my mate ( from your city by the way and is also a Mike) has upgraded his turntable with what you are looking at, has the Dynavector XX2 Mk11 and it’s a cracker I must say , his Sondek has the same arm as yours .

Kendo I have not heard but I believe it’s very good , step below my Linn Kandids but above the Linn Krystal

I can’t remember what cartridge you currently have in the Sondek ?

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Thanks for your detailed reply - very helpful. My cartridge is the Audio Technica AT-OC9ML/II.

Just played Rumours and the sound was fine, so obviously recordings are a factor too.

Oh yes well recordings are a very big factor Mike

I’ve thrown out a few vinyls as the recordings were crap

The cartridge you have is evidently quite OK so maybe just hang onto it for quite a while if it’s not on its last legs

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It is a bit of a money pit though Mike

From memory Harry’s ex demo Linn Majik cost me circa $4.5k 7 years ago, in those days the Majik had a project arm which was pretty poor

Today with all the upgrades - ARO tonearm/ AROKeel/Kandid/karousel/Superline/SCDR/ Armageddon PS/trampolin/new plinth etc I think it now up to $40k +

Ha - but worth it I reckon

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Gosh, and $46K will get you a new fully spec’d LP12 Klimax.

Yep well it’s equivalent to my fully spec’s LP12 Klimax ( Ekos se arm etc), just a different sound

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I would start with changing to a new Belt and a new Cartridge,a LP12 should be more fun to listen to than a CD player or a Streamer.

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I also found the Karousel a backward step SQ wise. Less transparent and duller.

I now run, ( rightly or wrongly, risk or no risk) my old inner platter in the Karousel. Much better, and much happier.

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Should have gave it some time running in to mate up the touching faces. :+1:t2:

Yes the Karousel is definitely a downgrade if one like PRaT and Boogie.

I ran the Karousel for over 6 months before changing the inner platter. I had another play a week or so ago with the two inner platters. It’s a clear decision in my system.

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