Five new Linn LP12 upgrades!

19 June 2022

Linn’s turntable engineering peeps have been very busy indeed. We are about to get three completely new components and two new LP12 decks.

ARKO tonearm – £3,000
KENDO MC cartridge – £2,800
KOIL MC cartridge – £800
plus
New Selekt LP12 – £10,570
New Majik MC LP12 – £3,675
Krane tonearm now available as standalone – £1,350

We should have all of these new toys within a week or so and can’t wait to have a listen. We should be ready for dems w/c 27th June, just get in touch to arrange. Now, the detail as we have it.

ARKO

Linn hasn’t released a new tonearm since Ekos SE in 2006, so the arrival of Arko is very exciting. Similar in looks to the SE, Arko will sit above Akito in the Linn range, at £3000.

For Arko, Linn has returned to fundamentals, removing all bar the mission-critical elements of tonearm design, boiling these down to their essence, and then honing what was left to superlative standards. Perfectly poised and rigorously refined, Arko is effortful simplicity.

Arko features an ultra-stable gimbal platform to facilitate excellent bearing concentricity and alignment. Its arm wand travels with minimum hindrance; the affixed cartridge able to track and move  with finesse and fluidity.

Special care and effort was taken to ensure that 7075-grade aluminium would be used exclusively throughout the arm wand assembly – from headshell to gimbal – with the resultant material synergy and coupling effectively banishing undesirable resonances away from the delicate generator, and out through the sub-chassis.

Designed alongside new aluminium-bodied Kendo moving coil cartridge, energy transfer is improved yet further Kendo when these are paired together.

Arko Key Features:

• 7075-grade aluminium used throughout arm wand, to produce superb resonant behaviour
• Machined headshell with weight reduction pockets for increased agility
• Cold-drawn 7075 aluminium arm tube produced to exceedingly high tolerances and accuracy
• Gimballed design results in improved depth, impact, and emotion conveyed
• Machined stainless-steel counterweight decreases arm wand inertia
• Single piece, polished stainless-steel through-spindle for improved alignment and stability

KENDO MC

Bearing a striking design resemblance to Linn’s reference Ekstatik cartridge released in 2021, we are very excited about Kendo.

Kendo is a modern martial art form; translated from the Japanese it means “way of the sword”. At Linn however, the word has unique connotations. Our sword is forged of boron, with a super-fine-line diamond tip. Our armour is nickel-coated, 7075-grade aluminium. Kendo is the eager apprentice to its master, Ekstatik; sharing the same values, and picking up many of its traits along the way.

Linn engineers have taken the elements of Ekstatik which work so well and used trickle-down development methodology for Kendo to produce a more affordable, high-performance cartridge which retains the same core design principles and acoustic fingerprint.

Kendo has a rigid, nickel-coated 7075-grade aluminium body, the same specific grade of aluminium to match Arko tonearm, for which Kendo was designed to be the perfect partner. This facilitates superb material synergy throughout the tonearm system, and effectively banishes unwanted resonances away from the delicate generator, along the arm, and out through the sub-chassis.

Kendo Key Features:

• Moving coil (MC)
• Rigid, nickel-coated, 7075-grade aluminium body
• Low-mass and stiff boron cantilever
• Super-fine-line stylus
• Aluminium-bronze threaded inserts
• Perfectly paired with Arko tonearm

 

KOIL MC

Koil promises to be a formidable, entry-level moving coil cartridge; a first step onto the ladder of premium moving coil cartridges. This Majik-level cartridge provides a step up in performance from Adikt; and is available either as an upgrade, or fitted as standard to a new Majik LP12 MC.

Choose Koil if you intend to use your Majik LP12 with a moving coil phono preamplifier. Upgrade from Adikt to progress your journey along the path to vinyl playback perfection.

Koil Key Features:

• Moving coil (MC)
• Nude Microlinear Stylus
• Low mass boron cantilever

 

SELEKT LP12

The audiophile’s dream
This elite Sondek LP12 package is decked out with precision-engineered components from the upper echelons of Linn’s range. It sits between Majik LP12, the gateway to high-fidelity vinyl playback, and Klimax LP12, the zero-compromise pinnacle of Linn’s engineering endeavour.

Selekt LP12 includes Karousel bearing, Kore subchassis and armboard, Lingo power supply, new Arko tonearm and new Kendo moving coil cartridge. Available in plinth of your choice, fluted or unfluted, and as with all LP12s, personalised colour plinths can also be specified.

 

MAJIK LP12 MC

The first step into high-fidelity vinyl playback with the legendary Sondek LP12 in its most affordable guise – powered by carefully curated Linn-engineered components.

Majik LP12 MC includes Linn’s sandwich-construction aluminium sub-chassis, patented single point Karousel bearing, internally mounted low noise power supply, low-friction Krane tonearm and new Koil MC cartridge.

 

That’s a lot of new turntable toys from Linn and ones that will facilitate some excellent upgrade opportunities across the entire LP12 spectrum. Get in touch too for details of Linn’s cartridge trade-in programme on these.

We’re expecting the new bits to arrive next week and will let you know when we’re ready for auditions. Can’t wait!