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Help tame my Ekos

I recently replaced the Basik Plus arm on my LP12 with an Ekos, and I've found my relatively new Adikt (which sounded fine on the Basik Plus) now sounds aggressive and excessively punchy, making listening unpleasant. I've adjusted the VTA down, and the cartridge may have a few hours still to go to the magic 100, but I'm wondering: is this the sound of the Ekos? Are Linn cartridges by and large voiced to be bright, and (excessively) dynamic? The sound of a mismatch, when what I really now need is a mellower MC cartridge? If the latter, what do the fine folks out there recommend? I note a lot of LP12/Ekos users choose Benz, usually the Glider, and I've liked what I've heard of the Benz sound on other turntables. I listen almost entirely to classical and jazz, and truth of timbre is more important to me than punch and slam. Thanks!
swklein
sc53
722 posts
 
I had the Akito and van den Hul MC-One Special, and now have the Ekos and Archiv, and on none of these set-ups did I hear anything bright or overly dynamic. Did a dealer mount your Ekos and Adikt? The tonearm has to be removed from the table to do any cartridge mounting or else the bearings can be damaged. Maybe things are still just breaking in. What phono pre are you using?
twl
3,251 posts
 
I think you might want to raise the VTA some. By raising, I mean raising the arm pivot end up a little. Raising it will reduce bass boominess, and that sounds like what might be your problem.
extremephono
123 posts
 
Check:
1) Out of phase cartridge connection
2) Check torque on all screws and bolt. About finger-tight for cartridge, hand tight for VTA locking bolt and arm base bolt (8.5-9.5 lb/in torque)

Ideally, the Ekos works well with mid to low compliance MC and may not sound right with high complaince MM.
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