Linn, based in Glasgow, Scotland, was founded in 1973 by Ivor Tiefenbrun. They are world leaders in digital streaming products as well as speakers, amplification and, of course, turntables, with the iconic LP12.
As part of its mission to create audiophile analogue perfection, Linn have created a number of stunning cartridges over the years such as the Troika, the Akiva (both now discontinued) and the current day Linn Kandid. Linn’s rich history in audio replay has given life to their current range of cartridges.
Linn’s all-new, flagship cartridge, Ekstatik, sets a new bar for arm/cartridge synergy; its unique construction forges an harmonious synergy with Ekos SE; wicking away more unwanted resonances along the arm, and out through the sub-chassis.
With a bespoke, honeycomb cut into the cartridge body, Linn have skeletonised Ekstatik so that overall mass is reduced to our preferred sweet spot of close to 7g.
A micro-ridge stylus on a sapphire cantilever makes for an extraordinarily responsive cartridge. The sapphire cantilever is far stiffer than boron or aluminium, resulting in less loss between the stylus and the generator.
The overall result is an agile, responsive cartridge with the added performance yielded from specifying these materials; masterfully matched in unique configurations.
The Kandid marks 40 years of the Linn Sondek LP12 and is the new flagship in Linn’s cartridge range. The Kandid comes in to replace the Akiva, which had been at the pinnacle of cartridge technology for the past 10 years. One of the key performance improvements of the Kandid over the Akiva comes as a result of removing the cartridge housing.
More accurate audio reproduction is achieved thanks to the repositioning of the stylus and cantilever within the body of the cartridge. The angle of the magnets and coil in the front pole piece has been off-set so that they are parallel when the record is playing, ensuring perfect alignment for accurate movement on the record. The Kandid is the perfect cartridge for a top-flight Linn Sondek LP12.
Kendo is the outcome of Linn engineers’ efforts to capitalise on the elements of Ekstatik which work so well; using their tried-and-true, trickle-down development methodology to produce a more affordable, high-performance cartridge which retains the same core design principles and acoustic fingerprint.
Kendo possesses a rigid, nickel-coated 7075-grade aluminium body. This specific grade of aluminium matches that of Linn’s Arko tonearm, for which Kendo was designed to be the perfect partner. This facilitates superb material synergy throughout the tonearm system, and effectively banishes unwanted resonances away from the delicate generator, along the arm, and out through the sub-chassis.
Two years in development, Krystal uses the design principles of Linn’s leading moving coil cartridge, Kandid, to capture the minute changes in the record groove, letting you hear every musical detail.
Krystal features a similar approach to minimising mass as Kandid, using a nude design to give the cartridge less inertia so it can react more quickly to the changes in the groove. It uses a triple-point mounting system for a solid connection to the tonearm headshell, while the aircraft grade 7075 aluminium chassis provides a lightweight, stiff and stable platform for the generator. Even the adhesive used on Krystal was painstakingly selected to provide the most rigid bond possible to avoid any dampening effects.
The Linn Krystal cartridge is kept on demonstration here at Cymbiosis and can be fitted to any of our demonstration Linn Sondek LP12s
Koil is a superb first step onto the ladder of premium moving coil cartridges. This Majik-level cartridge provides a step up in performance from Adikt; and is available either as an upgrade, or fitted as standard to a new Majik LP12 MC.
Choose Koil if you intend to use your Majik LP12 with a moving coil phono preamplifier. Upgrade from Adikt to progress your journey along the path to vinyl playback perfection.
Unlike all the other cartridges listed above, the Linn Adikt is a high-quality moving magnet cartridge. This is where a tiny magnet, connected to the cantilever, moves relative to fixed coils in the cartridge body to generate the signal; this allows it to have the advantage of a user-replaceable stylus.
Other features of the Adikt include a rigid body and positioning lugs for easy mounting into a Linn arm. The Linn Adikt is an ideal starting point for a quality vinyl play back system, particularly when used on the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable.
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