LP12 new cartridge

[kenworthy100]

My father has come to stay with me on an extended basis and in doing so has brought much of his hifi and record collection with him.

His system is Rega Brio R (christmas present from me this year), Rogers LS7's and Lp12 Akito K9 Lingo 1.

I had a listen to his LP12 which sounded poor, I have checked,levelled and reset the suspension following the move, replaced the belt, checked the bearing oil, all appears to be ok.

His K9 is elderly and in need of replacement, he is getting a little clumsy in his old age so I would like to find a budget MM cartridge under £100 which will work with the Akito and match the phono input on the Brio R.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Stratmangler]

Look at Audio Technica stuff - didn't they make the K9 for Linn?

[hifi_dave]

The Rega Carbon will do the job perfectly. £25, robust and easy to set up.

What's not to like ?

[chris@panteg]

AT95 with HE stylus from LPgear or AT120e , my choice .

[DSJR]

The Akito should happily take the AT120E as well. The 120E can sound detached in the bass if the arm isn't well suited, but it should be in this case.

Ditto the Carbon, and one day I would like to hear the AT95 with HE tip.

The K5 and K9 were basically the AT95 (and siblings) body in a Linn-dedicated mount and with special stylus housing, fitted with conical? diamonds in the K5 and a Vital (I believe) in the K9. Neither had the PC-OCC wiring and fancy gold plated pins of the AT110E and Linn sold so many of them over many years I reckon they made a fortune out of them.

I have to suggest a 2M Red as well, but you'll have so many options you'll not bother because of confusion - sorry!

[chelsea]

AT 95

[chris@panteg]

The Akito should happily take the AT120E as well. The 120E can sound detached in the bass if the arm isn't well suited, but it should be in this case.

Ditto the Carbon, and one day I would like to hear the AT95 with HE tip.

The K5 and K9 were basically the AT95 (and siblings) body in a Linn-dedicated mount and with special stylus housing, fitted with conical? diamonds in the K5 and a Vital (I believe) in the K9. Neither had the PC-OCC wiring and fancy gold plated pins of the AT110E and Linn sold so many of them over many years I reckon they made a fortune out of them.

I have to suggest a 2M Red as well, but you'll have so many options you'll not bother because of confusion - sorry!

Dave I still have my 95HE , hardly run in + the very interesting precept with the shibata type beryllium stylus , will have to sort something out as I'd love to know what other folks make of em ?

[kenworthy100]

Thanks for all the responses, looks as though an AT95 will be a good choice

[DSJR]

It has a wider obvious "bandwidth" as the Carbon/AT91, but the latter does bass and lower midrange better I think......

[Linnism]

Kenworthy100,
Not sure what you mean by 'poor', but the K9 was discontinued years ago, so grommet aging might (fingers crossed) be the sole cause of the poor sound. Even if tip has zero wear, you could still have brittle sound, lacking clarity, due to grommet issues.

+1 for AT95. I tested two HEs and found them a net improvement when playing very complex material or worn records. I used both at around 1.95-2grams, a bit heavier than where I would usually set for an 'E' on an Akito, but YMMV (do your testing post run-in).


PS
If DIYing LP12, consider advice given by Peter Swain at Linn's LP12 forum.

In any case, here follows some info that might be relevant to your situation (..or not. Apologies if you already know the following.)

Akito mk1 bearings didn't maintain spec well, which can effect sound quality. If bearings are notchy, or otherwise poor (unfortunately, you can't accurately diagnose by moving the arm back and fourth in your hand), then have arm overhauled at Audio Origami (and to help avoid repeat issues, carry out cartridge changes per Linn recs - IE same method used for Ittok/Ekos - or, if you're lazy :-)) just 'firm' the cartridge bolts rather than brutal tight).

The Akito counterweight is designed such that the scale faces rearward, IE the opposite orientation of an LVX, LVX+.
When the Akito counterweight is fitted with the scale facing forward, the scale reads in the wrong direction as the weight is rotated, and so the indicated tracking force differs to the actual/measured tracking force. Basically, the scale needs to face rearward (yes, making it harder to see). Alternatively, use a suitable stylus pressure meter to set tracking force.

Lastly, if the poor sound you mention is expressed by piano chords lacking clarity and stability in the decay, then check bearing, platter, motor are within spec.