OK, so I got this tt a couple weeks ago, then an Akito arm to go on it about the same time. When I got back home on Monday, the output cable harness was here waiting, so I put it together with a fresh Denon DL-160 HOMC cartridge. This took all of about 30 minutes. I'm not that skilled at tt set-ups, but people who spend weeks dialing in a turntable have more patiience and are more fumble-fisted than I am.

When getting ready to start listening, I noticed a bad tube in my Stingray, and had to swap out to the Blue Cirlce NSCS integrated for power, so my listening so far has not been with my normal amplifier. Using an old stalwart Denon PRA-1100 for a phono stage to put sound out to the Shahinian Obelisks.

The Basik is a pretty sweet little turntable.- it's replacing a HK T-60 that I've been using for about 4 years. Obviously, the cartridge needs to settle in for about 50 or so hours, but even out of the box, the sound is quite balanced and detailed. Very quiet, with nothing in between tracks. Everything sounds pretty fine, there may be a little tweaking left to do, but not much from the initial set-up.

I need to live with this for a few weeks and see what the final verdict is. I already know I miss the HK's end-of-record arm lift, but if things bed in the way they're going now, I did alright.

Those are nice tables! Why are you replacing the H/K?

Basically because I haven't had a new toy in ages.

Basically because I haven't had a new toy in ages.

That's a darn good reason!

Good deal!

It's a very nice table and arm for sure. Another great thing about your set-up is that if you eventually decide to upgrade to a different table, the Akito can stay around and be worthy of the new one.


Don't they still make those toneam lifts? The ones that will elevate the arm a touch in the leadout groove.

RC

Good deal!

It's a very nice table and arm for sure. Another great thing about your set-up is that if you eventually decide to upgrade to a different table, the Akito can stay around and be worthy of the new one.


Don't they still make those toneam lifts? The ones that will elevate the arm a touch in the leadout groove.

RC


Not sure if they still do but a couple of years ago Rob was kind enough to send one of these manual arm lifts to me. I never did use it. If I can dig it up its all yours.

Glad your digging the Linn. If funds become available I think a cart upgrade would be the best bang for the buck upgrade.

Grumpy

Not sure if they still do but a couple of years ago Rob was kind enough to send one of these manual arm lifts to me. I never did use it. If I can dig it up its all yours.

Glad your digging the Linn. If funds become available I think a cart upgrade would be the best bang for the buck upgrade.

Grumpy


At least that way, you wouldn't forget and leave the needle grinding away on your latest Pickled Monkfish (or whatever you are listening to now) LP when your en route to Germany or wherever.

RC

Not sure if they still do but a couple of years ago Rob was kind enough to send one of these manual arm lifts to me. I never did use it. If I can dig it up its all yours.

Glad your digging the Linn. If funds become available I think a cart upgrade would be the best bang for the buck upgrade.

Grumpy

Benz?

At least that way, you wouldn't forget and leave the needle grinding away on your latest Pickled Monkfish (or whatever you are listening to now) LP when your en route to Germany or wherever.

RC

Hell, I did that Tuesday night for a couple hours when I fell asleep on the couch.

The jump from your 160 to say an Ace is rather dramatic. Problem is I wont buy one since they raised the price. May as well shoot for a glider or stick with a silver. That or buy used which I am not a fan of when it comes to cartridges.

One other to condisider is if you can find a Linn K9 jump on it. Was made for that arm and table combo you have and its sounded very nice to me, specially for the money.

I have fallen asleep a bunch of times. My dealer a Linn & turntable guru assures me the lead out causes very very very very little if no wear to the needle, makes it just that much easier to snooze :boring:

Glad all is working out. :D

Mark

The jump from your 160 to say an Ace is rather dramatic. Problem is I wont buy one since they raised the price. May as well shoot for a glider or stick with a silver. That or buy used which I am not a fan of when it comes to cartridges.

One other to condisider is if you can find a Linn K9 jump on it. Was made for that arm and table combo you have and its sounded very nice to me, specially for the money.

I'm not one for buying used cartridges either. Is the K9 still in production?

I have fallen asleep a bunch of times. My dealer a Linn & turntable guru assures me the lead out causes very very very very little if no wear to the needle, makes it just that much easier to snooze :boring:

Glad all is working out. :D

Mark

Yeh, I'm not really worried about that happening very often anyway.

Its been out of production for a while but i recall a web site that refitted it with a newer AT stylus. Not sure of the sound quality of that replacement but it should be
cheap enough to experiment.

The benz silver should be a good match for the akito but not sure about your phono stage.

Hey, I'm glad things are working out for you, Toze. :thmbsp:

Well, after getting some spare tubes and inserting the Stingray back into the main system (in triode mode, no less- which I hadn't liked before), the Basik has been playing loud and strong here tonight and sounding really, really fine.

Been playing vinyl all day today with the Blue Circle BC27pi phono stage settling into the mix nicely. One thing I've definitely decided has to go is the damned foam platter mat- it comes off with the record about 1/2 the time. PITA.

Have you got other mats to try in it's place? You could cut one out of cork fairly quickly and cheaply.

They don't allow sharp objects around me.

Been playing vinyl all day today with the Blue Circle BC27pi phono stage settling into the mix nicely. One thing I've definitely decided has to go is the damned foam platter mat- it comes off with the record about 1/2 the time. PITA.

It should be felt....I've never seen a Linn come from the factory with foam....

.

Damn fine table. Just leave it alone and enjoy it. Mods don't work on Linn gear.


I've owned a few Linn Basik tt's and they are truly giant killers.


Nank

Tentoze - now that you've had some time with the Basik/Akito , what are your thoughts on this rig vs the HK T-60?

Pavioni,

To be honest, I really haven't put that many more hours on it in the interim- not a reflection on the table in the least, it seems that I just run hot and cold on listening to music anymore. The cartridge still probably needs 20-30 hours more on it, IME, however, I did play vinyl for several hours on Saturday night, and it sounded very, very good on any lp I threw at it.

As for a subjective comparo between it and the T-60, I certainly don't think I went backward, or even sideways in making this change; but at this point, I'm not willing to say there is a "night and day" type difference either. In other words, I still hold the opinion that the T-60 is a very capable TT that may not always get the respect it deserves in discussions of such things.

Been playing vinyl all day today with the Blue Circle BC27pi phono stage settling into the mix nicely. One thing I've definitely decided has to go is the damned foam platter mat- it comes off with the record about 1/2 the time. PITA.

I did the Herbies mat group buy a couple of months back for my LP12. Not sure if the mat makes much of a difference in the sound, but it stays attached to the platter when you lift the record, even if the LP has lots of static. Might be worth considering.

I can clearly hear the difference between the Linn's original mat, Linn's new mat, Rega P3 mat, Phonosophie No. 3 mat, Achromat and Ringmat in my system.

Also, there is the right side and wrong side on Linn's mat.

Out of that, I still prefer the Linn's felt mat but I replace it every 2 years because it shrinks over time and degrade its performance.

Pavioni,

To be honest, I really haven't put that many more hours on it in the interim- not a reflection on the table in the least, it seems that I just run hot and cold on listening to music anymore. The cartridge still probably needs 20-30 hours more on it, IME, however, I did play vinyl for several hours on Saturday night, and it sounded very, very good on any lp I threw at it.

As for a subjective comparo between it and the T-60, I certainly don't think I went backward, or even sideways in making this change; but at this point, I'm not willing to say there is a "night and day" type difference either. In other words, I still hold the opinion that the T-60 is a very capable TT that may not always get the respect it deserves in discussions of such things.

Thanks Tentoze - I also have a stock T60 which I feel is very very good. But, as you said there are so many turntables out there and so little time. The question is - mod the HK with outboard power supply and new tonearm or move on to a Linn......decisions, decisions.

Thanks Tentoze - I also have a stock T60 which I feel is very very good. But, as you said there are so many turntables out there and so little time. The question is - mod the HK with outboard power supply and new tonearm or move on to a Linn......decisions, decisions.

Guess it ultimately boils down to whether or not you like to tinker. I don't. I don't buy a lot of equipment, because I'm generally satisfied with what I have, so when I make the decision to do something different, I'm patient enough about it to wait for what I think is the right deal to come along. I'm more than happy enough with the outcome of this move that I don't see changing it, other than a cartridge upgrade in a year or so.

Toze' just a thought.....place three or four pieces of tape doubled over on itself between the foam and the platter. Should be thin enough not to lift the lp.

I put a rubber mat on it- no more issue.

problem solved.