Linn Owners

Linn Ekstatik - Tracking- and Resonance-Test

Ron.P

Wammer
Wammer
Jan 28, 2022
289
450
68
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Out of the box it already plays well, but after 35 to 50 h it is about played in and definitely gives pleasure.

It possesses an almost irrepressible joy of playing pop/rock especially from the 80s is a lot of fun, the arrangement of the sound engineers is reproduced wonderfully without the music falling apart. The complexity can be grasped at any time. Everything plays together without disintegrating into an unpleasant analytics. I would compare it to a fabric woven in a sophisticated pattern. It does not disintegrate into warp and weft threads, but remains a coherent fabric that unfolds a sculptural effect.

Classical music appears light-footed and elegant. Strings sound wonderfully stress-free and yet filigree and powerful, but above all clean and distortion-free. Small ensembles are reproduced intimately. As a listener, you take part in the familiar interplay.

It is impressive how a sound is created, sustained and fades away again. Without any compression effects, the sound image always remains open and audible. Individual musical voices are brought out in a wonderful way and can be heard separately, without the sensuality of the sound being lost. context of their playing is lost. On the contrary, it is precisely through this precision that the musical reproduction gains a new depth and intelligibility.

The sound seems three-dimensional and detaches itself from the loudspeakers. A bas-relief becomes a sculpture. I mean this in a figurative sense, since spatiality is not important to me, I can assign the sound to a musician. The individual musician becomes more tangible and can be experienced as part of the whole.

The system plays in a finely graduated dynamic and seems very sovereign. It never seems strained or stressful, but also never boring or soft, always lively and at the height of the action. Fine differentiations in the beat, which were not so obvious before, now result in a new understanding of the complexity of what is happening in the music.

It's all great! Or?

Not quite, in the low bass it seems restless and bloated. That disturbs the overall impression. Especially more modern recordings, which are mixed a bit richer in the bass, almost slay you.

Although the accompaniment and the main voice can be followed at any time, the hierarchy between them is missing. They always play at eye level. This is irritating because changes and dialogues between voices are not always clear.

The timbres just seem a little too garish.

One loses a little of the joy of listening to music.
Excellent review. And what did the Ekstatik replace and how does it compare?
And is the VTA correct? For example, Lyras sit lower by design--if that's what you replaced. Your hearing might be sensitive to this.
 

pirov

Wammer
Wammer
Oct 25, 2018
438
650
113
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
With what other cartridge(s) are you comparing the Ekstatik? And what is the rest of your system?
 

Rille

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 6, 2020
193
187
63
Excellent review. And what did the Ekstatik replace and how does it compare?
And is the VTA correct? For example, Lyras sit lower by design--if that's what you replaced. Your hearing might be sensitive to this.
The VTA is absolutely parallel to the record.
The predecessor was a Linn Kandid. Interim I listened for 4 months with an AT-OC9XML.

I experienced the Kandid as very powerful and dynamic. It had a great audibility that tended to be a bit analytical. (Like a lively 6 cylinder that is in the upper rev range). In the EkosSE/1 it plays much better than in the EkosSE.
The Exstatik, on the other hand, seems much more confident, it sounds fuller in and plays powerfully from a depth. Personally, I like the fact that it plays more colourfully. The resolution is clearly increased without it tipping over into the analytical. (Like a cultivated 12 cylinder with almost unlimited power reserves).
 
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Rille

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Jan 6, 2020
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With what other cartridge(s) are you comparing the Ekstatik? And what is the rest of your system?
I rate the Ekstatik with itself. From my understanding, the development of a cartridge is always accompanied by a tonal tuning. Despite all the improvisation with the additional weight, for me the balance is noticeably better, especially in the aspects I critically consider. I don't want to place myself above Linn or EMT, but simply follow my hunch. As far as Linn is concerned, I have experienced several times that if something is not felt to be coherent, then there is something to be found out.

About my chain LP12 with Karousel, Urika1, KK, 4 x Klimax Solo, A212/A221 (2.2).
 

Rille

Newbie
Wammer
Jan 6, 2020
193
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If you dare, you can try the following.
Stick a brass washer of about 2 g with double-sided adhesive tape on the screws on the headshell, balance the tone arm, set the 2 g tracking force as well as the correct anti-skating force and listen to the music.
 

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mskaye

mskaye
Wammer
Jul 8, 2019
576
610
113
US
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
If you dare, you can try the following.
Stick a brass washer of about 2 g with double-sided adhesive tape on the screws on the headshell, balance the tone arm, set the 2 g tracking force as well as the correct anti-skating force and listen to the music.
Besides being aesthetically unappealing, that shouldn't be necessary with a 12K USD tonearm/cartridge combo IMHO. But then again, these things sell and are probably doing the same thing (and before anyone gets on me about relative cost, these look a zillion times better.
https://www.synergisticresearch.com/accessories/turntable/pht/
 
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13th Duke of Wymbourne

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Aug 18, 2018
418
665
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Dana Point, Ca
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Please, let's not lower the tone of the forum by bringing up Synergistic Research!
AFAIK those things are meant to be a mechanical resonator not a weight to adjust the arm moving mass. They introduced these little things first for room acoustic improvement, then they stuck them on speakers and now on headshells.
 
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mskaye

mskaye
Wammer
Jul 8, 2019
576
610
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US
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
Please, let's not lower the tone of the forum by bringing up Synergistic Research!
AFAIK those things are meant to be a mechanical resonator not a weight to adjust the arm moving mass. They introduced these little things first for room acoustic improvement, then they stuck them on speakers and now on headshells.
I know about SRs reputation. I was being facetious about their advertised mega-abilities but they do look a little better.
 

sktn77a

Audio Dinosaur
Wammer
Nov 11, 2014
1,163
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NC, USA
AKA
Keith
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The really sad thing is the accolades over this snake oil by Stereophile!
 

pirov

Wammer
Wammer
Oct 25, 2018
438
650
113
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
If you dare, you can try the following.
Stick a brass washer of about 2 g with double-sided adhesive tape on the screws on the headshell, balance the tone arm, set the 2 g tracking force as well as the correct anti-skating force and listen to the music.
Interesting to compare: the Ekstatik weighs 7 grams; Lyra Kleos 8.8 g, and Lyra Etna 9.2 g.
 

Wenge1

Wammer Plus
Wammer Plus
Sep 19, 2021
3,282
16,886
183
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Am I missing something here - In my mind something must be quite wrong if you have to bung some extra weight onto the head of Linn's top of the range cart in order for it to perform at it's best in Linn's own top of the range tone arm.
 

Ron.P

Wammer
Wammer
Jan 28, 2022
289
450
68
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Am I missing something here - In my mind something must be quite wrong if you have to bung some extra weight onto the head of Linn's top of the range cart in order for it to perform at it's best in Linn's own top of the range tone arm.
I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with you.
 
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Rille

Newbie
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Jan 6, 2020
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I just did another resonance test, because I wanted to make sure the Ekstatik was really played in.
Vertically, the resonance is in the range of 16 to 12 Hz, but not frighteningly dramatic.
Horizontally, the tonearm and cartridge resonate clearly at 14 Hz and at 12 Hz so massively that the cartridge no longer stays in the groove.
Conclusion: I come to the same conclusion again, either the Ekstatik is suspended too hard, or the EkosSE/1 is too light. My Ekstatik and my EkosSE/1 don't really work in perfect harmony with each other.
 
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