Any experience with the new Linn Sondek upgrades?

Some good points you make Newmanoc about tone arms and cartridges. I too posses an Akiva and find it to be so revealing. It does everything well and is a very quiet (surface noise/groove) rider. Actually Scan-Tech makes both Lyra and the Akiva but, not to knit pick. I've always wondered if the Graham 2.0 or 2.2 would be a good match for the venerable Sondek, it seems light enough. Does anyone have some experience with that? A Graham is somewhat hard to find used but not impossible and you get VTA on the fly with replaceable arm tubes so one could run a mono cartridge as well for quieter, more appropriate play for all the old and reissue vinyl out there. Pricing is just beyond the Ekos II (used) from what I’ve seen and if the tonearm mounting collar ID in the keel is larger than the shaft OD of the Graham by enough it is very likely one could machine a custom bushing to retrofit the two into a sound, stable marriage. I’ll have to do some rooting around and take measurements. In the end I'm torn with whether to buy a second table, Lp12 or not, or go with the Keel. All three ideas have their merit and had Linn priced today's upgrades as in the past (very affordable) I wouldn't even be looking at these other scenarios so carefully. I really want a second table eventually. Just ruminating out loud. How about tartan felt mats as Art Dudley suggested? and a dee dram of Scotch. :^)


Happy (analog) Listening!

typo: that's a "wee" dram of Scotch, to quote Sir Ivor Tiefenbrun. :^)

Looking at the picture of the underside of the Keel, in the October Stereophile article, it appears that only Linn tonearms can be used with it, eliminating use of other possible choices.