Another Power Cord Comparo?

My Kuzma Stabi SD set up, with 12 inch arm and Benz Micro LP cartridge, still same as before. However, I never though switching power cords to the AC speed controller(left) can make so much changes to the sound

Agree or not, power cords do make a difference to the sound of hifi that we hear. My experiences with power cord, or any other audio cable, is well documented in these pages. However, almost all the power cord swapping I made was direct to electronics, such as power cord to CD player, or cassette deck, pre-amp & power amps surely. Love the journey so far.

However lately, I am a little baffled when I swapped power cords to the AC speed controller of my Kuzma Stabi SD turntable. Why am I baffled, you asked? Well you see, unlike a CD player or cassette deck, the AC speed controller has no electrical connection what so ever to the turn table, tone arm or cartridge! The AC speed controller only powers the belt drive motor, which only point of connection to the turn table is the rubber belt, which is mechanical! So, in a way you can say electrical changes the working properties of mechanical, if the sound I heard is different from swapping each of the 4 power cords below? I will run down what I distinctly heard with each power cord below:

    

Audi Agile Concept Tuning is a shielded power cord design. However in this application, it just sounded very un-refined with white hash, not very good for a shielded design 

First up, the Audio Agile Concept Tuning power cord. Once plugged in to the Kuzma AC speed controller, the music has a nice rhythmic sure foot ness to the sound, as some would recognize as PRAT factor. The tonality was very neutral balanced high, mid & low. Bass was bold, solid and nicely tuneful. Mids are un-colored but the highs is where this cable fails. There's a constant white hash mixed in to the high frequency reproduction which results in a somewhat streaky and shrill treble. Cymbals are splashy & high hats sound edgy & hardened. May be that was why the Kuzma CAR-30 cartridge sounded the way it did? Because at that time of the Kuzma CAR-30 review, this power cord was used and perhaps the Kuzma was just reflecting the contributions of the Audio Agile Concept Tuning power cord? Was I being fair to the Kuzma? I think it might be time to re-visit that cartridge in the near future..........

  

Supra Lorad 2.5 power cord is a very soft and nicely shielded design, which I used in a variety of application, but doesn't seems to work well enough for this AC speed controller use

The Supra Lorad 2.5 power cable is next. Once I swapped the Supra in, replacing the Audio Agile, the first & immediate relief is the high frequencies. Gone are the splashy cymbals and hardened high hats. The white hash that's mixed in to the music's high frequencies are much, much reduced too, but nevertheless, I still heard a bit of the white hash. Much like the Audio Agile, the mids are neutral but bass is a little less tuneful, or bouncy as they say. Bass body is no longer as bold, but still maintained a nice degree of solidness. Overall, this is a much better cable, for the Kuzma AC speed controller for it's sins of omission which is for all purposes, less offensive, but no less enjoyable.

PS Audio Punch power cord. I have more than a few PS Audio power cords used in my hifi system, and it's one of my go to power cords usually. Not sure why it's the worst sounding cable here?

Next up replacing the Supra Lorad, is the PS Audio Punch power cord. This is the thickest and least flexible power cord of the group. I had to wrestle it like a cobra before I could get it to plug in to the Kuzma AC speed controller IEC socket. And once plugged in the weight & the rigidness of the PC Audio Punch power cord caused the light weight AC controller to stand on it's hind legs! I had to put a weight on the AC speed controller for a day to keep it on all 4 feet. Once I started listening, the sound ain't that pretty either! 

The PS Audio sounding so slow, that I have to re-calibrate the speed controller for 33 &45 rpm a few notches faster. Next problem is the bass, which is fat & muddy. Mid range is totally over warm to the point of sounding over riped. The highs are rolled off and surprisingly, not too refined either! The only good thing was that the white hash is gone! I waited a few days, hoping for the power cord to settle down, and hopefully things will improve. However it still sounding more or less as described above even after 2 weeks in the turn table system. I had come to a point where enough is enough!

To be fair, I later used the PS Audio Punch power cord on my Teac UD-501 DAC and it sounded extremely pleasant & nice, which took off some of the digitalis grain from the streaming music. Well at least it didn't go to waste...............

    

This Gotham 85025 cut from reel power cord & Copper Color plug combo really surprised me for it's low cost to performance ratio. Possibly one of the best DIY power cord one can make

The last and final candidate is a DIY effort where I bought Gotham 85025 cut from reel power cord and self terminated with Copper Color Rhodium plugs for both IEC and NEMA ends of the power cord. I must remarked that from my experience using those China made Copper Color plugs, they are some of the best value, nicely built and great sounding plugs, if your budget does not stretch that far or you may feel Furutech plugs are not required. The Copper Color plugs are probably the best China made plugs you can buy today.

Sorry, I digressed. I proceeded to remove the PS Audio Punch and use this Gotham power cord instead. The moment the needle first dropped, I knew I am experiencing musical bliss again. Yes, the AC controller speed had to be tuned down again for 33 & 45rpm, after the PS Audio adjustment. Once the speed was set right, everything is nice and balanced, with a top down coherent of frequency reproduction. No more white hash audible in the highs either. The highs were clean yet refreshingly airy, smooth with no trace of edginess or hardness. The mids are nicely rounded and projected slightly up front, which makes the vocals stand out from the music. The bass starts & stops accurately, with clean note to note transfer, and no hang overs. The cables are not overly thick, slightly stiff, but still very bendable and at the very least, no need to wrestle it like a cobra.

Of the 4 power cords I tested here, I found the Gotham cable & Copper Color plug combo most balanced & satisfying to listen to. So impressed with it, I made another set of the same combo to power my Linn LP12 Mose kit external power supply box for the Hercules Gold II board.     

I can neither explain or validate what I experienced with the 4 different power cords and how it effects the sound of the turn table, despite being non electrically connected. It's just another of those things in hifi that baffles the mind. If you are reading up to here and think you have a good explanation to my experience, please comment below. I am looking forward to learn from you guys too!

Newbie Analogue Journey

I have started my hifi journey many years ago even before streaming are main stream music. CD is predominantly the format in hifi for a long time until streaming changes all that, even more so for the Vinyl record. I personally have been in digital music most of the time with the beginning of FLAC / WAV until moving into DSD. So over the years many DAC I have own with all kind of players too. Few years back, I came to experience in analogue music listening to some pretty nice turntables.

I started to research and read up on turntables. What to look out for mainly for a newbie to get into Vinyl music. Few things to consider when looking for turntables. Firstly, its the drive (motor) to spin the platter. There are 2 types, the belt drive and the direct drive. 

From picture you can clearly see there is a belt being use from the motor to the spindle. This drive and spin the spindle than on top the platter of the turntable. The advantage of this is less motor noise that might introduce into the sound. This is quite important and Vinyl is very sensitive to external noise. The disadvantage of it is the start of the spin and the time it stops spinning is slower than a direct drive.

This picture is show a direct drive turntable with the motor directly attached to the spindle. Is different from the belt drive that this type doesn't required a belt. The advantage of this will be the spin will be almost immediate for the start and stop. The disadvantage will be the noise the motor might introduce into the sound.

The next thing to look for is the speed. Mainly there are 33 1/3 or 45 RPM in speed for turntable. The thing to look for is how easy you can switch in between speed. Some turntable is very easy with just a push of a button. Some have to remove the platter and made adjustment. Example of the Rega P10 turntable with this external power supply has 2 switches to change the speed.

 Next piece to look now is the tonearm. This is very important to having a good steady hold of the cartridge while is tracking the Vinyl record. In this part the thing to think about is how easy it can be adjusted to setup the tracking force of the cartridge and also height of the arm sometimes is important to have the proper tracking. 

The one last thing and the most important is the Cartridge. Two different types of cartridge, the MM (moving magnet) and MC (moving cartridge). The different types have different gain which is important to consider for your hardware which is the phono pre amp. 

Its kind of overwhelming when I first started to read to understand all that. Put that all aside, there are many turntables this days are all ready to plug and play. Some turntables are able to even stream through bluetooth or even USB capable. Technology has change analogue quite a bit too. Out of the box many turntables are good to go and they are reasonably good start.

For me one more thing about vinyl record is all this beautiful records. This is one of the only media you can actually see the beauty as it spins. Good music is important but esthetic is pretty important too as you will be seated to enjoy the music while enjoying the beauty of your records.

 

More Mober For Linn Sondek LP12

Mober sub-platter for Linn LP12 tur table, though Cirkus compatible, I much prefer the sound when mated to it's intended partner, the Mober bearing.

In my last story about the Mober sub platter, as started with my desire for the latest Linn Karousel bearing upgrade, but the prohibitive pricing of Linn lead me to looking else where. Along came the Mober items purchased from Edmund Chan who makes these Mober products & ships out of Hong Kong. 

Doing the Mober bearing upgrade, much like the Karuosel, requires the Vahalla or Hercules power supply board to be moved out of the turn table, in to a separate external box. That means my Hercules II Gold power supply board will need a box to be housed in. Fear not, Mober has a solution in the form of a Mose kit!

In the process of reading up on the Karousel vs Mober bearing, it would seem to me that Edmund had started putting the Mober bearing in to the market 2 years ahead of Linn! However, the emergence of Karuosel has made Mober to introduce an improved version with collar mount option, compared to the 3 point mount of the previous design, as in Linn's Cirkus bearing. Competition does indeed spark innovation in this case!

Now let us go through the build pictorial:

Mober(left) bearing vs Linn Cirkus(right). Notice how much bigger the Mober bearing is at the bottom? The Mober bearing also offers collar mount, which I feel in much better than 3 point mounting, as the stress points are even out with collar mount.

The bridge comparison, left is the Mober supplied unit which came as part of the bearing package. Compared to the Linn supplied unit, notice the bearing thru hole in the center, which is much bigger diameter with the Mober unit. Also note the heavier steel gauge used, and that improved wire hold down design, which is far more rigid compared to Linn's fragile looking P-clip, not shown here.   

On the back is similar story, the Mober parts exudes quality build that Linn can only dream about!

The Mose casing to house my Hercules II Gold power supply board. This 2U design casing is aluminum extruded and finished in satin black for an overall high quality look & feel.

The back panel of the Mose box, a multi pin socket provides easy & removable wiring option from the turn table.

Even the IEC socket provided with the Mose is a gold plated audiophile grade item, Mober has put in much thought to his products!

Inside the Mose box is an added AC board for LED indicator at face plate, and rerouting all Hercules II Gold cabling requirements to the multi pin socket.

The Mose box with the Hercules II Gold power supply board fitted.

The completed Mose box, with a blue indicator at front face plate, when powered up.

Fitting of Mober bearing commence! The Mober bearing is first collar mounted on to the Linn Kore sub-chassis. This is followed by the motor & 33 & 45 rpm switch on the top plate.

M for Mober!

The wire hold down clamp as seen here in white is much easier to work with, compared to Linn's P-clip design. Just lift the clamp high enough to slip the cables through, then tighten that hex key.

The finished project, with Mober's L shaped power supply board to accommodate the much bigger bearing. the multi pin cable from Mose box shown earlier is attached to this L-shaped PS board. Also seen here with tone arm cable & multi pin cable being clamped down respectively. 

An older picture for comparison, with Linn's Vahalla board in place with Circkus bearing. The Hercules II Gold board is basically a 2 speed version of the Vahalla!

And lastly the whole turn table assembly sits on the Linn Trampolin II

The finished project, with the newly Oak finished plinth. This project is like a total rebuild, and since I am at it, I also swapped the Koetsu Black cartridge to serve on the Linn LP12 turn table. 

The Linn LP12(top tier) with the Mose kit & Marantz PH-1 phono stage below deck, sitting on my Spyder rack.

The sound of the finished project is excellent from the first needle drop! The initial sound was fast and exciting, with little to no back ground noise. LP surface noise is largely reduced as well. The bass is now truly powerful and tight! The Linn finally has the bass power to rival my Kuzma turn table. No more  Linn's flabby, "mong cha-cha" bass of the old. The Mober bearing package, with it's sub platter really brings the Linn LP12 detail retrieval ability & clarity to a whole new level. The good part is Linn's much fabled mid-bass is now clean, and doesn't intrude and cloud the male vocals anymore. Treble is much extended, airy and clear like a breath of fresh air! The noise level after the Mober bearing & Mose kit installed is near zero or un-audible now. After a few days, as the 3 springs that suspends the Linn settles down, the treble begins to soften a touch, and some semblance of the Linn LP12 sound character re-emerges, but just enough to remind you that this is still a Linn LP 12 after all.

I feel the Mober kits offer very high value for money in each & every way one looks at it. The Mober kits are well made, with good materials, high quality finishing and much design details that only someone with an intimate knowledge of the Linn LP12 can think of. Best of all, the Mober kits are much, much more affordable than the Scotland made stuff, yet suffers no sound penalty or build quality. I think the Mober kits may somewhat sound a little different if compared to using all Linn parts catalog, but on the whole, Edmund Chan is a person who understands the Linn's engineering philosophy well, and doesn't stray too far from where the apple tree is. I now have much respect and high regards for the Mober kits. If you have a Linn LP12 turn table at whatever vintage, do give the Mober kits a go!

Given today's Linn aftermarket diversity, and Linn's endless catalog of up grade parts, I can tell you there no 2 Linn LP12 in the world that is exactly same anymore, after leaving the showroom! A celebration of diversity I guess.....

Facelift, Wood Plinth Refinishing For Linn Sondek LP12

My original Linn LP12 plinth in Black Ash, total strip down. This is not the first time I've done this!

Choosing my stain option, which I choose a rich shade of red laquer

 

The finished result! Beautiful......

From another angle at Ricky's workshop

This project was almost 6 months in the making. I had planned to refinish my Linn LP12 wood plinth, as I was kinda bored with the original Black Ash color scheme.

And since I am stripping everything down to do the refinishing of the plinth, I might as well do some upgrades! At the time, I was keen to get Linn's latest Karousel bearing design, but was horrified upon hearing the cost. Fear not, it's Mober to the rescue and I ended buying not only Mober's bearing design, but also the matching inner platter & out board PSU upgrade kit. All those parts came just a day before the MCO lock down in May, and Ricky's furniture workshop had to close as a result.

Ricky's workshop was allowed to resume operations by 3rd October and he went in to work on my Linn LP12 plinth straight away. After more than a week, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the result of the refinished work, as in the pictures above!

Ricky also does speaker cabinet repairs or any other hifi wooden bits refinishing as well. He is well known amongst those classic Thorens & Garrard turntable folks for supplying beautiful custom plinths. He is also a classic hifi & LP collector. So if you're reading this, that means Ricky shares your passion for good sound!

Ricky can be contacted at 019-3379357, should you require his services.  

Something New For Something Old..........

Now, what's this?

This project has been in the making since April, as all the parts have become available since May but no progress until now. Can you guess what is this item featured on the picture?

Art frame? Or something else?

If the keen eyed amongst you already know, post your answer in the comment section please.

Stay tune for updates on this project as it will start moving soon!

 

Mighty Mober For My Linn Sondek LP12, Mober SSP 12 Sub Platter

Julien, my friendly Linn LP12 kaki, who is also my hifi COP, a.k.a. Chief Of Poison, introduced me to the world of Mober, an after market parts vendor for the Linn LP12. In fact, Mober's parts catalog is so complete, that you can actually choose to build a whole LP12 out of Mober parts list! However be warned that if you do that, I suspect the actual end product, an LP12 look a like may not sound much a like the Linn version either.........

Also when reading in to Mober's story, I found that Edmund Chan, the Mober man is also the man behind Hercules PS by Stamford Audio, which I use to repleced the Linn Vahalla PS and still loved till date. That already gave me a healthy dose of confidence on Mober's stuff. At one point, Mober was so controversial in the Linn forums, because there were just as many pro Mober fans vs Linn purist, which resulted in a war on almost every topic posted. It got so bad that Linn decided to shut down the forum totally. Edmund and his henchmen were thrown out and denied membership, forever! Yeah, I know how up tight those Linn purist can be!

As I discussed with Julien, my buddy(who denies his poisoning abilities) about the Linn Karousel bearing option, that everyone is hot over heels about, but the high cost factor remained in my doubt and so in one brilliant stroke, Julien suggested I look in to the Mober alternative. Mober's store is on Ebay and he ships out of Hong Kong. After going thru Mober's Ebay store, I ended up not only with Mober's bearing, but also an Mober SSP12(which is Mober's sub plater) and also Mose+ out board casing kit for my Hercules II Gold PS board. You see, before Linn's Karousel, Mober was already selling his bearing of a similar design. And like the Karousel, Mober's bearing mount is much bigger, so much of the original LP12 inner pieces will either have to be changed or modified! The inner brace bar which holds the Cirkus bearing will need to have the bearing fitting hole enlarged, but Mober sent me a replacement to fit with his bearing instead. The Hercules II Gold PS board won't fit either, so it will be moved outboard with the Mose+ casing kit! 

Now you can see, why I was so hesitant in considering the Karousel bearing! With so much changes, the cost was just adding up big time, if I had stuck to the Linn parts bin! With Mober's more reasonable pricing, that move was a whole lot more palatable, financially. Actually, if you scour the www carefully by searching for Linn LP12 parts, you'll find much after market bit's & pieces for your Linn, some very well designed, others down right wacky & possibly rather tweaky by looks. I am just saying this, that in the Linn LP12 universe, there exist a whole lot of other options other than the original. 

Mober box arrived via FedEx

Inside the Mober box

I ordered all the stuff as mentioned above, made my payment and in about 10 days or so, the Mober box arrived by FedEx. As you can see, the box is very well packed. The first item I can easily play with is the Mober SSP12 sub platter, which does not require me to disassemble the turn table just yet. All the other parts will have to wait until the current MCO to finish, when we come out of the lockdown, as I would like to refinish my black ash plinth too, while at it. So will have to wait until my buddy's furniture workshop re-opens for business.

Mober recommends that when using his bearing, to pair with the SSP12 sub platter for best results, however, the Linn Cirkus LP12 sub platter can still be used. Since the SSP12 sub platter is compatible with the existing Cirkus bearing, it will be an easy swap in. 

The difference the Mober SSP12 and the Cirkus sub platter is obvious. Mober's have a pale gold coating in the center of the top spindle. Where it's not so obvious is where the biggest difference lies, at the tip of the bearing shaft! Linn's patented bearing shaft tip is rounded off versus Mober's which is bearing fused, much like those old Thorens sub platter design from the late 50's and early 60's. Otherwise, nearly all other design aspects of both the sub platter looks identical, save for that matt aluminum finishing on the Linn, and shiny surface of the Mober. So how does that Mober sub platter sound comparatively to the Linn?

From left: Linn sub platter, then the shinny Mober sub platter on the right 

Linn sub platter, look at the rounded tip of the bearing shaft 

Mober SSP12, with the bearing fused at the tip as the focused point of the bearing shaft

The swap over was relatively easy, I pulled the Linn sub platter out from the turn table, wipe clean the shaft from the bearing oil with a piece of tissue, then re-lube the bearing and proceed to drop in the Mober sub platter. Allow some time, about 10-15 minutes to let the bearing shaft sink in by gravity, best not to use force. Once the sub platter sits in nicely, time to fit the outer platter on, and record matt, now your're ready to spin LPs!

From the very first moment the LP started spinning again, I heard a distinct, sharp high mid frequency range poking out of the overall frequency spectrum. While this makes vocals pop out and stabilizes imaging better, I much preferred Linn's overall top to bottom frequency coherence and evenness. I also note that the Mober sub platter is subjectively quieter in the musical background too. Otherwise, all other sound quality character remains largely un-changed. The bass is still solidly filled up and gutsy, the mid range comes with the peak as mentioned, and treble remains airy & refined. 

Over a few weeks, that mid range peak started to be reduced to almost un-detectable, except with certain LPs or songs, I could still hear it. That's the problem with audio, once you've heard it, it's very difficult to unhear it. From time to time or song to song that peak high mid just sticks out enough to remind you about the Mober! I actually find this type of sonic character very much like sitting one's hifi equipment on 3 pieces of downward pointer footings, but the Mober being a whole lot more discreet. One of the main reasons I never use those tipsy downward pointing footers on my hifi equipment. 

I am hoping that once I pair this sub platter to the Mober bearing, this anomaly would disappear totally for a perfect & coherent match. I also suspect that with the neutrality of the Benx Micro LP cartridge also pushed the Mober towards this slight peak in the high mids, and I suspect my other cartridge the warmer sounding Koetsu Black which is more sympathetic, may be a better match with the Mober items.  Let's see......

The Linn sub platter just before removal

The well sit in Mober SSP12 after 15 minutes, fits nicely too

With that being said, I believe that Mober sub platter & bearing kit is best used as a set. The Mober SSP12 when used with an existing Cirkus based Linn LP12 turntable, the compatibility may rest on a few other items too, such as cartridge, cable & turn table set up. That makes this so called up grade a small gamble, and YMMV is all I can tell you at this point. Well, at least till I get all the other Mober items in to my Linn Sondek LP12. Not sure when that is possible in the current pandemic & lockdown situation........................... 

My Linn Sondek LP12 is back in action again. For Linn purist, in which this photo I shared on Linn FB group, the LP clamp used here is a crime punishable by crucifixion! For me, as long as it's floating my boat, who cares?

 

Vinyl Candy, Kuetsu Black By Musashino Audio Labo

The Koetsu Black MC cartridge from the 80's it had an output of just 0.25mv, so you'll need a high gain, low noise phono stage to go with it. Weighting in at almost 10 grams, this is a medium compliance cartridge.

After living with my Kuzma CAR-30 for a few months, I was just itching for a cartridge change to go with my Kuzma Stabi XL turn table set up. I was hoping to find a used Shelter 901 in any incarnation, as there was MKII and MKIII after the original. I know, the Shelter is not the latest & greatest, but it is a comfort cartridge so to speak. It's been around for years, the sound is familiar on the warmer side of tonality, which is what I love. Then along came this Koetsu Black by Musashino Audio Labo.........

Like the Shelter, Koetsu is another familiar brand that has been around for a very long time. The story goes something like this, Sugano-san is a retired automotive engineer at Toyota. Post retirement, he ventured in to the art of hand winding cartridges, as Sugano-san is also a music lover himself. His hand wound cartridges, then called Koetsu Black, due to it's use of a black, powder coated aluminum body, was a hit in the market and by 1985, Sugano-san was unable to cope with the orders that were coming in worldwide. Hence there after he commissioned Musashino Audio Labo to help with the manufacturing of the Koetsu Black. By the 90's Sugano-san was too old to continue with the business and his son took over and expended the empire!(so to speak)

With new management came new ideas, and Koetsu started to introduced new materials such as Rosewood, Vermilion Varnishes, then gemstones such as Jade or Coral stone to the body, to basically add flavor over that classic hand wound over boron cantilever motor since the Black. As a result of using ever more exotic materials, Koetsu prices also start to increase over the years, top that off with hifi inflation, which is never in single digit territories, you get the idea!  Today Koetsu is mostly seen as high end cartridge maker, with the entry level model, still called the Koetsu Black Goldline retailing at a cool USD 2,500 a piece!     

On the top side, where the mount screw holes are, is where you can tell if it's an original Sugano-san hand wound early model, or in this case, the 1985 onwards Muasashino Audio Labo produced unit, with serial number to boot.

As usual, I digressed. Anyway picked up an ol' Koutsu Black by Musashino Audio Labo from a contact who happens to live nearby, and mounted it on to my Kuzma Stogi S12 inch arm. With a square body, the Koetsu was easy to mount and complete alignment to the tone arm.  Once the tracking force was set to 2 grams, I can start to play my LPs. From the first note, I have never felt the serenity that a piece of hifi equipment brought to my audio experience! The sweet highs were rolled off for that soft fluffy, disappearing in to the thing air of nothingness, always to soothing to ear...... The rolled of highs kinda makes the mid range slightly pronounced, which to me ears is always a good thing. Bass is solid, full bodied, but can sometimes sound lumpy too. However, that's only when you start to dissect the sound. When heard as whole, the sound is at once rose tinted hue with lushness, and vocalist centric all rolled in to one homogenously. 

If you're still reading up to this point, you'd conjectured a rather warm and comfortable sound but could be boring in the longer term, question? The answer is NO, with each LP or recording being played, the tonal colors of the music are flushed out in full, never monotonous! I often find my self appreciating all those tonal colors I never heard before in a recording, even if I've heard them a thousand times before the Koetsu, trust me it's that amazing! With the Koetsu, the music always flow with musical foot tapping tune, no doubt about that. Which is why despite it's warm tonality which endears it so well to genre like vocals, especially female(Tsai Chin or Teresa Teng comes to mind), jazz, and simple baroque style classical music, the Koetsu actually surprises me with it's ability to rock too! I some how always play my air guitar when I put on a rock LP. Hmm.............. Last but not least, the Koetsu just wipes out all the LP's surface noise better than most other cartridges, reducing most pops & clicks to nearly undiscernible levels. How ever if an LP is scarred, then then grove rot can still be heard, but much less rude sounding.

Now it can't be all pros with no cons, right? Yes, there are short falls to when it came to resolution. When compared with my Benz Micro LP, a slightly newer MC cartridge design, which have been with me for over 10 years now, mounted on the various turn tables I have played with, the Koetsu would lose out by emitting the finer musical details & tonal shadings so apparent on the Benz. Also when comparing to both the Benz and the Kuzma CAR-30, the band width of the Koetsu is left somewhat wanting as well.  The Koetsu also have a tendency to sound a bit slow in the proceedings if your platter speed is tune to correct 33.3 rpm using the strobo scope. My review is based on the setting of pushed up speed button by 2 notches, on the Kuzma's electronics speed control, both on 33 & 45 rpm. Some times, doing it right technically just sounds wrong!

   

This is the current version of Koetsu Black Goldline, with a gold plate at the bottom and slightly tapered body at the front. However many say it sounds more like a modern interpretation of the older Koetsu Black!  

And here I am, a happy camper at last, and by now, you would have formed the conclusion that I love the Koetsu Black a lot!  However, with that said, my impression of Koetsu was never great to start with, as it always gave me the impression of an ol'man's cartridge. To be honest, I have never heard anyone playing rock music with a Koetsu up till now. My previous brush in with the Koetsu always had me listening to Tasi chin, and other audiophile music only.  Now that I have one, I have new found respect for the Koetsu Black cartridge.

Now, from what I heard is that the current Koetsu Black Goldline has a slightly less rosy hued view on music and come with a slightly more modern(i.e. watered down or flattened) sound signature compared to those 80's originals made by Sugano-san himself, or the Musashino Audio Labo version. Some of those who are lucky enough to have compared, also swear that the Musashindo Audio Labo version is already watered down compared to the original early 80's Sugano-san hand wound version! Personally I have no way to verify those claims unless I go crazy and buy all 3 versions of the Koetsu Black to try. So, now I can understand the mystical journey & the plot twist and turns of the Koetsu Black cartridge, which has come a long way since. And don't you just love hifi brands that have a tradition and story line that lasted more than 40 years & counting? 

All Kuzma Experience, Kuzma CAR-30L MC Cartridge

Now that my Benz Micro LP has been relocated to my Linn Sondek LP12, I have to find another cartridge to go on duty in Kuzma Stabi S12 double plater turn table. After much deliberation, I decided to try the full Monty from Kuzma by going with the CAR-30L cartridge. The Kuzma range cartridge is based on the ZYX motor assembly, but with an added machined aluminum body, bumping the cartridge weight to 17 grams. At this point, not many tone arms can hold this baby steady any more, but my 12 inch Stogi can do so.  

The Kuzma CAR-30L outputs at 0.3mv and is considered the middle child in the Kuzma cartridge range. After mounting, aligning and setting the cartridge up to a tracking force of 2.2grams. I used the built in phono stage section of my Aesthethix Janus Signature pre-amp with a setting of 56 decibels gain & 126 ohms loading. Now, I can start playing some LPs.

The Kuzma cartridge range from CAR-20 to CAR-60. Only the top 2 cartridges are marked out by their colored bodies

The Kuzma CAR-30L cartridge, seen here with the stylus protector

What the Kuzma CAR cartridge looks like without the stylus protector. With an over square aluminum body, it makes setting up and cartridge alignment work super easy

From the get go, I found this cartridge to be completely neutral in tonal balance, very similar to the ZYX cartridges in which it is based upon. However, that's where the similarity ends, because the Kuzma CAR-30L will go low in bass and with absolute dynamics to match. This is a fast transient cartridge, very much in the mold of Clearaudio sound signature, but only with bolder and bigger stage scale. Vocals have a big bone quality to them in the flesh. High frequencies are extended, but never ear jarring. Very exciting introduction in to the full Kuzma sound of course!

However over time as the cartridge settles in, I slowly found the CAR-30L lacking in tonal richness, the very kind a person gets in to all the trouble that vinyl presents for. There's no warmth in the music what so ever to speak of. I also found myself wishing for more air, more ambience in the music. I need my analog rig to have some tonal color, rose bud tint if necessary, I also need some soul in my analog rig.

Another issue I found over time was that despite it's 17 grams heft, and a 2.2 grams tracking force, the CAR-30L did not track as well as my Benz Micro LP mounted on the 9 inch  Ittok tone arm. I am starting to think if it's the cartridge it self? Arm length factor, or uni-pivot vs gimbal factor in play here? I never got a straight answer as in most things audio. This was particularly evident when playing badly warp records, which I've got a few. In most cases, the very same LP which would result in the full Kuzma rig skipping a beat, the Linn combo set up would just cruise along, musically un-feathered. With it's weight advantage, I was initially expecting the Kuzma to be the clear winner here, but it wasn't to be. Hifi paradox in all it's un-predictable glory is truly evident here. After months of wondering what happened, I never found the technical explanation to rest my case.   

I know, the choice for a suitable cartridge in any system is a daunting search, made worse by the sea of cartridges available in all forms & prices. It's been a long time since I last did any cartridge shopping. This CAR-30L has shown me about all the things that make a technical argument compelling, but the music when playback trough this cartridge, just never touch my soul, or stirred my emotions. It does so many things right when dissected, yet music as a whole, never sounded full filing in anyways. It has lead me to wonder that if I crave for more tonal color, more warmth, more humanity in vinyl playback? I can only put it to a matter of personal preference. I also know a few others who are very happy with the performance of this cartridge in their analog set up, and it was in one of those systems that I heard, made my jump in to the all Kuzma analog source idea. In my system, this was not to be unfortunately. Overall I still think the Kuzma CAR-30L offered much technical performance, and hence much value for money too, but it just didn't give me the kind of emotional attachment or engagement that I am looking for in my music. 

Just a generic picture to illustrate the Kuzma CAR-30l cartridge mounted to the Stogi S tone arm and Stabi S9 turn table

I'll leave you with a song title by the rock group, The Clash. Shall I stay of shall I go? 

Scratching That Itch! My Own Linn Sondek LP12

While restoring my buddy's Linn Sondek LP12, I also caught the bug and soon the pandemic ensued! No, no, no, not the COVID-19 type pandemic, but Linn LP12 high fever type........

I looked at local classifieds and found this lovely example in Black Ash finished plinth, circa spec of pre Y2K. It came with Cirkus bearing set & Ittok LVII tonearm. It was well looked after by an elderly gentleman who had too many turntables to looks after, and this was his choice to give up.

I got home and quickly mounted my Benz Micro LP cartridge again on the Linn. If you can recall, this very same cartridge was mounted on my 1st Linn LP12 a few years back. I loved the sound of this LP12/Benz combo very much.

Like many others, I just couldn't resist giving my Linn LP12 a few updates:

My Linn LP12 pre-update!

As the Linn LP12 is a modular designed for future up-gradeability in mind, the whole turn table can be taken apart and new parts substituted, DIY style, with some knowledge.  

First item on my mind was the bottom cover, which was kinda like an asbestos board, I never liked that piece since my first Linn, and would rather go commando if I have to. Since then, I have found the Linn option called Trampolin 2, and many other after market options on the internet. They all give different sonic results for sure, but I'd just stick with the Trampolin 2 option. Verdict, YMMV depending on the inteface with your turn table or hifi rack surface. The Trampolin 2 offers last mile leveling possibilities and stray energy absorption with it's soft rubber compound foot.

The next item is trickier as there are 3 performance levels to choose from Linn and many other un-specified performance options for after market! I would stick to Linn options on this project. First up is the Keel sub chassis. The Keel sub chassis is the most rigid, being machined from a single piece aluminum. There are no joints here.

The mid range performance sub chassis is called Kore. See the difference in under belly construction between this Kore and the Keel above? There's much bonding and joints compared to the one piece Keel.

The Keel from the top visible view, note that even the tone arm collar comes machined aluminum as part of the construction.

The Kore from the top visible view looks more similar in construction to Majik below, but the included arm board is also aluminum bonded on to the main sub chassis. Still very rigid, but losses the integrated tone arm collar.  

The Majik sub chassis is today's entry level performance component for the Linn LP12. Entry level for sure, but compared to the those pre Majik sub chassis, it is very much improved in all areas. This Majik spec sub chassis still requires a wooded arm board to be mounted by 3 tiny screws, but now also subjected to tome arm collar clamping for much more rigidity. For those who loves that old school mid range coloration, the Majik still offers some of those vis it's clamped wooden arm board construction. The tonal quality becomes more neutral and less colored as one moves up the sub chassis game.

 

I would say dare say that if the Keel is to be taken as reference as 100% in sound performance, then the Kore is 80% of the Keel, and the Majik is 80% of the Kore. The pre Majik sub chassis is probably less than 60% of the Majik. So of all the up grades to the Linn LP12, the Majik sub chassis makes the best bang for buck, followed by the Kore. The Keel is what I would only do if going for the Klimax spec performance. On a personal note, I do find the Linn LP12 Klimax spec sounding much closer to digital type of sound reproduction. There's very little analog feel to it. To retain more analog feel, I would only advise up grades along the Akurate spec only. My choice? The Kore!

I also took the opportunity to upgrade the Linn Valhalla PS board to the 2 speed Hercules Gold board. I've always found the Hercules solution offered by Stamford Audio to be great value for money and offered excellent overall performance. While at it, I also replaced the aging belt drive.

The final result may look like the same turn table, as most of the up grades are hidden under the surface. The sound quality is anything but the same. From the first track, it was immediately apparent that bass was cleaner, leaner, but stronger, and much better defined. Gone is that mushy bass feeling, and now, note to note bass transfer is very audible and note all lumped in to one continuous mush as before. Clarity is much improved, as that general veiling is now gone. The upgraded Linn LP12 now have the balls and guts to take on my other turn table, the full optioned Kuzma Stabi S. The Linn now also have the speed and rhythm to play rock as it should.   

Having said that, those who loved that sweet mid range coloration of the old Linn LP12 may not feel so much at home now. With improved clarity & transparency, the LP12 also lost quite a fair bit of the warm golden mid range that made it so endearing. There's still a little left in the Kore sub chassis equipped LP12, just enough to give a tinge of that warm sweetness to make it livable. That's where the Keel equipped Klimax spec falls short on. Call it a double edge sword, but the Kore sub chassis balances this fine line tightly. Also love the lower surface noise that comes with the Kore sub chassis.

While the upgrade parts are not cheap, but I feel they do bring the value to an aging Linn LP12 by keeping the sound up to date and better spec. There's a lot of reverse engineering effort that is un-spoken in these up grade products. Just barely a month or so after completing this project, Linn announced a  new bearing kit called Karousel, which promises to bring down what ever the noise floor left from the Cirkus bearing. Many Linn buddies reported huge..... sonic improvements with this upgrade. I am still contemplating about this new option, and in the mean time, I'll enjoy my upgrade Linn LP12 to it's fullest.

Looks very much the same, but the sound is way better than ever!