Any experience with the new Linn Sondek upgrades?

I would agree with Newmanoc as I am essentially in the same shoes.

Kinsekd if you did all these upgrades at the same time how can you have a quantitative understanding of improvement? I understand the convenience yet that is a lot of scratch. Had you auditioned these incrementally? Although I essentially agree with your upgrades I would have swapped the Keel for the Ekos SE for a possibly better improvement at a cost savings.

I have updated my Lp12 circa 1982 one step at a time and can unequivocally conclude that the Cirkus cut my surface noise by 50% plus well adding improved low level detail, the Lingo tightened up everything making everything more timbre correct, improving depth of stage, and added a greater (deeper) lower end. The Akiva quieted things down even better, especially on old well worn vinyl and has extracted even greater levels of low level detail which has also with no coincidence improved sound stage and instrument placing. All great sonic values. I too consider the Keel smart but extremely over priced and find it disenchanting that Linn would make the profit margins so high against their possible mass proliferation of raising the Sondek Lp12 name back to a place of respect amidst all the marvelous late comers to this industry/market. Their intent (marketing strategy) leaves me confused. They have been side-tracked from two channel analog for far too long IMHO but it’s good to see them back with innovative ideas and not abandoning what made their name in the first place. It will take a home audition/evaluation and nothing less for me to fork out with that kind of cash on a Keel upgrade. As for the Ekos SE which still will not allow the end user VTA on the fly, as so many of the competitors have found need to offer. And to top it all off I couldn't determine the value of these new updates at the resent Linn Manufacturer/Dealer listening demo due to the all Linn amp and speaker compo. With all due respect, how can Linn discern source upgrades with a reference system so over dynamic and yet seemingly vacuous in musicality (the dreaded word audiophile comes to mind), it leaves me totally baffled! Yet I love my Sondek Lp12 so hey, what do I know?

Happy (analog) Listening!

The good Mr. Sayles and I are on the same wavelength with respect to the LP12. But we do diverge dramatically in our opinion of Linn electronics, of which I am most fond, and don't find lacking in musicality in the least. But I believe he is a tube guy, and I most certainly am not.

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Sayles. The point of this little exercise was not to microanalyze each upgrade individually. It was to hear the impact of how the upgrades worked together synergistically. As a whole. Which I felt was greater than the sum of the parts.

Kinsedkd - The "whole nine yards" upgrade - Keel, EKOS SE, and Akiva lists for about $10,945 (3000+4950+2995) if my figures are correct. I assume you got a good deal, including the Circus, by jumping all at once. It's nice you can afford to drop a large amount and consider the unit as a "whole", rather than to "microanalyze", but I'm sure many if not most Linn owners go the piecemeal upgrade route and are concerned about which upgrades are the most cost effective, as discounts are generally less available when upgrading step by step.

So we are getting into the meat of it all. We want to know both step-by-step, as well as the total value of ownership. According to Ivor's cannon, Keel ought to be done first, and if one can take only one step it is the Keel.

It is the second step that troubles me. At nearly twice, we need some extraordinary synergy to fill this gap. Otherwise one might feel the EKOS so good that the SE will not make the value gap, to wit, any old cartridge will sound so much better with the SE that you do not mind having already spent $3,000 to upgrade to the EKOS and are keen to make it a cool $8,000 BEFORE even thinking you need a better cartridge.

Or is my logic flawed? There is a better match than the Akiva to the old EKOS?