Hi-Fi Turntable, Tonearm and Cartridge

[St Landrew]

Thinking of selling my Linn Sondek/Ittok/Troika. All are in super condition, as they only got properly used in their first few years. After which I was so much on the go that I lost the time for sitting down and listening to music. And since my tinnitus, it's a bit pointless having one of the best turntables ever made hanging around. I've still got a Thorens TD160 anyway with a decent arm and cartridge combo anyway.

 

I might even sell my Naim NAC62/NAP140 amps too. The NAC62 has Naim manufactured Troika pre-pre amp cards. Then I might as well let my Kef Reference 104/2 monitors go, although they won't tolerate any ordinary amplifiers, and sound dull and lifeless unless driven properly.

 

Back when new the Linn combo cost £1500, the Naim amps cost £800, and the Kefs cost £805. I'd be looking for £2000 for the lot, but they could be separated, I suppose.

 

Remember, I'm just thinking about it though. :confused:

[Ponty]

How much for just the Kefs?

[St Landrew]

how much for just the kefs?

 

£450.

 

Just a reminder that they will sound crap if you haven't got an excellent amp to drive them though. And they are a bugger to drive properly. In my experience, most mainstream equipment you see around won't pass muster.

Edited 10 September, 2008 by St Landrew

[Ponty]

I was going to put them on my parcel shelf.

[St Landrew]

I was going to put them on my parcel shelf.

 

Ah yeah... they're 35.5" tall x 11" wide x 16.5" deep, and weigh around 70lbs each speaker, mate. Here's are two bad photos of what they look like [one of them has the speaker grille taken off]. Cost new [1990] £805. I believe they're discontinued now, but the last time Kef made a pair they cost one pound less than £2000:

 

 

To lift them usually takes two people because there's nothing to hold onto except smooth wood veneer. But if you take the grilles off you can put your hand into the port [near the bottom], lift the weight, and then balance the speaker with your other hand. I don't recommend anyone trying this for long though. It hurts the back muscles somewhat.

 

The plus factor is that when you turn the volume up, it sounds as if the band that are on the record are actually standing and playing in your living room. They're that good. But they must have other superb equipment in the chain, because they make bad cd players, amps, turntables, tuners, whatever, sound... well, bad.

 

I might as well source some photos for the other stuff, just for anyone's interest. Here's an example of the World famous Linn Sondek turntable [shown without usual lid in this pic] Cost new [1990 and without pickup arm remember] £465:

 

 

Incidentally, everything about this turntable is expensive [including that pickup arm in the pic, which I think is a Linn Ekos at £995 on it's own]. I bought some new plastic and spring lid hinges from Linn the other day. They cost £21. As mentioned before, my Linn Sondek is partnered by the Linn Ittok. Once the best pickup arms ever made. Nowadays, I think it's considered about 2nd/3rd [behind the Ekos] in the all time list. Here's one mounted on another Sondek. Note the wood finish on the Sondek. Mine has that. Cost new [1990 - just the arm, remember] £399. Bit cheaper than the Ekos, eh..?

 

 

And the moving coil cartridge. Linn have discontinued this baby, but very many people still think it's the best thing they ever produced, and is the best cartridge ever made. At worst it's considered the 2nd or 3rd best ever. Actually, I think Linn think they made a boo-boo when they discontinued this one, but they're a stubborn company. They never go back. The only 3 bolted cartridge ever made - The Linn Troika. Cost new [1990, and sit down for this] £653 and actually worth every penny:

 

 

Lastly, the Naim amps. Made just up the road in Salisbury. Back in 1990 I went upto the factory to see them being made. I bought them direct 2 days later [after factory soak testing] and Naim threw in 30 metres of their own speaker cable free [normally priced at £10 a metre]. Well, I was paying dealer price direct from the factory. I've given most of it away over the years. But they did throw in special Linn Troika moving coil pre-amp boards too. An extra option cost normally. Hence they only cost £400 each. Here's the NAC 62 [actually it isn't, but it looks identical except for having only 3 input options. An NAC 62 has 4 inputs, and is a better sounding amp as well:

Note the lack of tone controls. You don't need them. You're almost certainly listening to the finest reproduced music you've ever heard. You don't need extra bass and treble. And finally the power amp. The NAP140. One of the best Naim ever made, which means one of the best ever made. This one is in its later styling. I like the earlier style above on the pre-amp, so just imagine the styling above for this model below:

The knob just clicks the unit on, and a little light shows. That's all. But by le god doesn't it deliver some oomph. Just Google Naim watts or Naim wattage. My NAP140 is only good for 45 wpc continuous into 8 ohms impedance. But it will still blow the socks off. It would sound much louder than another 100wpc amp. No distortion, just pure volume. I remember listening to Led Zeppelin II in my house in Kent. The neighbours were at the local village cricket, and my wife was buying a mutton joint in Pluckley butchers. I wondered whether I could hear the lads at the bottom of my garden. So I put the record on, turned up the wick to well over three quarters, and ran to the bottom of the garden [about 25 yards away]. I had to run back very quickly, as Jimmy Page's Heartbreaker riff was about to blow the windows out. I just got back in, in time to be hit with the bass as it joined the lead guitar. Good job the windows were actually open because the whole house started to vibrate. The Sondek calmly played on. I turned the volume down a tad and went back outside. Now I wasn't in fear of demolishing the house, it sounded gorgeous, and gave the Kefs a good work out. My neighbour Ian, from over the field, [about 200 yards away] came out of his house and strolled over. He leaned on my fence and said, That's my favourite Led Zep album. So we drank whisky together and listened to Led Zep. Not bad. :partyman:

 

And that's another thing. The house I live in now is much too small for the Kefs. They need a bit of room to breathe.

But I still want £450 ovno for them.

Edited 10 September, 2008 by St Landrew