Replacement cartridge for Linn Sondek 12

[roroq44]

Hello,

I have a Linn Sondek 12 with Ekos SE tonearm and Linn Akiva moving coil cartridge.

Unfortunately the cartridge was damaged and is no longer usable. I cannot afford to replace it like for like.

I'd like to get something decent just to continue using the record player again, with a budget of £500.

I know there are options from Yamaha, Audio Technia, Ortofon, Denon etc. but I have no idea how to choose.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Roroq

 

[Al ears]

Hello,

I have a Linn Sondek 12 with Ekos SE tonearm and Linn Akiva moving coil cartridge.

Unfortunately the cartridge was damaged and is no longer usable. I cannot afford to replace it like for like.

I'd like to get something decent just to continue using the record player again, with a budget of £500.

I know there are options from Yamaha, Audio Technia, Ortofon, Denon etc. but I have no idea how to choose.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Roroq

The Akiva is a moving coil cartridge so I assume you have a phono preamp or amplifier with built in mc stage.

I would recommend an Audio Technica AT33ev, a great cartridge for fairly little money (approx. £350). I am using one at the moment after trashing my Zyx.

Highly recommended by a well known cartridge repair man.

It sounds like you might need that same man to repair you Akiva. ;-)

 

[roroq44]

Thank you so much for your kind response. Please excuse my ignorance because i am not very technical but just a guy who likes to listen to his old records!

Yes the player is connected to a Linn Linto, which I presume is the phono preamp you are mentioning. I have read many forums and threads and get more confused so I have a couple more questions. The AT33ev does seem like a reasonable choice. Would I be noticing a lot of difference from my Akiva? Should I be considering other options from Audio Technica? Should I be sticking to moving coil or would moving to moving magnet be another viable option? I live in the middle east so I will be ordering through Amazon and I know a guy here who can fit it and do the fettling. When you mentioned the "repair man" I also wondered, is refitting my broken Akiva needle a possibility?

Thank you again and I would be most appreciative for any further advice.

roroq44

 

[Al ears]

Thank you so much for your kind response. Please excuse my ignorance because i am not very technical but just a guy who likes to listen to his old records!

Yes the player is connected to a Linn Linto, which I presume is the phono preamp you are mentioning. I have read many forums and threads and get more confused so I have a couple more questions. The AT33ev does seem like a reasonable choice. Would I be noticing a lot of difference from my Akiva? Should I be considering other options from Audio Technica? Should I be sticking to moving coil or would moving to moving magnet be another viable option? I live in the middle east so I will be ordering through Amazon and I know a guy here who can fit it and do the fettling. When you mentioned the "repair man" I also wondered, is refitting my broken Akiva needle a possibility?

Thank you again and I would be most appreciative for any further advice.

roroq44

There is, of course, the possibility to revert to a moving magnet cartridge but this would mean bypassing your Linto as this is a MC phono preamp. What amplifier is the Linto connected to, by the way.

There will, of course, be a difference in sound compared to the Akiva but you only have to look at the difference in original prices to realise this. The AT33ev is just about the best 'value for money' you are going to get below £500 but it isn't going to be as good as the Akiva.

Regards your question regards the Akiva it is always possible to repair, and maybe with a cartridge that cost this much, would be well worth doing. It can be repaired quite easily if it is just a stylus problem. More expensive obviously if there is any more damage. If it is just replacment of the stylus 'needle' that is required my guess is it will still cost in the region of £200, but could be worth it indeed. It would mean posting to the UK.

The man (cartridge genius) you need to talk to is Dominic Harper. Details can be found if you search for :- http://www.northwestanalogue.com/contact-us.html

I am sure he will be able to help. I have spoken to him regarding repairing my last cartridge but, unfortunately, cost of repair was too much making it uneconomic. Hope this helps as it may be cheaper to repair than buying the Audio Technica I suggested and the Akiva deserves to be fixed. 🙂

 

[nima]

Replacement cartridge for Linn Sondek ... Linn Akiva ... I cannot afford to replace it like for like ... something with a budget of £500.

That's simple AT33PTG/II

 

[Al ears]

Replacement cartridge for Linn Sondek ... Linn Akiva ... I cannot afford to replace it like for like ... something with a budget of £500.

That's simple AT33PTG/II

Very similar to my recommendation but as you can see he is probably better off repairing the Akiva (its a cheaper option).

 

[roroq44]

Thank you so much Al ears and nima.

I had already ordered the AT33ev so I hope that the AT33PTG/II is not far better....

I would certainly be interested in repairing the Akiva since it is only a stylus replacement problem, and I will contact Dominic Harper.

Finally, my Linto is connected to a McIntosh system, C41 Control Center and MC602 Power amp.

 

[Al ears]

Thank you so much Al ears and nima.

I had already ordered the AT33ev so I hope that the AT33PTG/II is not far better....

I would certainly be interested in repairing the Akiva since it is only a stylus replacement problem, and I will contact Dominic Harper.

Finally, my Linto is connected to a McIntosh system, C41 Control Center and MC602 Power amp.

A very nice system indeed. Hope you enjoy the sound of the AT33ev as much as I do and that Dominic can help you out (I am sure he can but his work, understandibly, is not cheap).

The AT33PTG is a slightly newer and modified version of the AT33 and I may have urchased one if it had been around when I got my cartridge but I would imagine the sound difference between them would only be very slight.