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Recommendation for MM cartridge to fit Linn Ittok LVII arm that will outperform Adikt

I’m about to pursue a Linn Sondek LP12 upgrade which will involve moving up to a better sounding moving magnet cartridge than the Linn K9 that is on there now. I just bought a moving magnet only phono stage (Bryston BP-2 MM) to work with my Bryston BP-26 preamp with MPS-2 outboard power supply.

The Bryston BP-2 MM has a hum right now which I have yet to identify the source of. With that said, things still sound pretty decent through this turntable which I just brought out for the first time since 1999.

I plan to get the new Karousel bearing that is part of the Linn promotion going on right now. My Linn specialist gave me some recommendations and one is to replace the K9 with the Adikt for the Ittok arm. I’m sure that the Adikt will be nice but I was curious if anyone perhaps knows of other complementary MM cartridges that would have the correct drilling pattern and perhaps sound even more refined than the Linn Adikt @ $640.

I may just keep the K9 for now, it seems to be a good rock&roll cartridge and plays rock and techno/new wave type of music in a ballsy way that I like and which is much less fatiguing than the same stuff on my digital sources. Not getting the Adikt gives me an extra $640 to put toward the Radikal Akurate motor/power supply and Keel subchassis that I think would bring this table’s deficiencies up to better high end standards and will be quite audible on my system.

So, just curious about opinions on my old K9, the current Linn MM offering - the Adikt, or some other MM brand for about the same amount of money that will fit the Ittok arm.

I’m already enjoying my music listening more than I have in years BTW. And if anyone has any suggestions on how to quiet the hum during quiet passages (it is there all the time and when I disconnect the RCA inputs from the turntable the Bryston BP-MM phono stage becomes as silent as my quiet digital sources).
masi61
masi61 OP
97 posts
 

@chakster  - your recommendations are interesting. I have decided to stick with my Linn K9 cartridge/ Linn Ittok LVll moving magnet combo for right now. You see, yesterday I finally made an executive decision about how to move forward with my upgrades.

I needed to decide about the Linn Karousel bearing promotion that was ending on 6/30. In order to get the Karousel bearing for "free" I had to commit to purchase (order placed) $4,000 USD in Linn products. I elected to put all of the $$ into the power supply and I ordered the "Akurate" level of "Radikal" DC motor and power supply. These Linn naming conventions are bizarre but Oh well....

But I have been listening to the K9 cartridge through my Bryston MM phono stage and it sounds really good. No reason to mess with success right now. I will have to fully audition the difference that the Karousel bearing and the Radikal power supply make on the sound quality of the LP12 Sondek.

By the way, I decided also to purchase the Greenstreet Audio aluminum subchassis (Keel copy) in order to hopefully get the most out of the Karousel bearing upgrade without having to pay the exorbitant cost of the Keel subchassis.

So changing cartridges does not appear to be necessary at this point. I will re-visit that option after all these exciting changes are implemented.

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,926 posts
 
@masi61  What you have decided to do probably makes the mosts sense and goes along with the Linn upgrade protocol. Should be an excellent increase in SQ. 
masi61 OP
97 posts
 

Thanks @daveyf 

You asked earlier about the ground wire and if it was attached to the grounding lug on the phono stage - yes it is.

Funny observation about the hum that I am hearing. It will disappear or not be present at times. Other times it will start out silent and slowly build to the point where, at the end of one side of an album it will be quite audible.

Last night I listened to several albums and I really did not hear the hum.

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,926 posts
 
@masi61  Seems like the hum issue could be a cartridge issue. As the cartridge gets closer to the spindle, it may be picking up a grounding issue from that. I remember hearing years ago about such a problem, if I remember correctly the problem went away with a) better turntable/arm grounding and/or b) a better shielded cartridge.
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