New Linn Arko Tonearm & Kendo MC Cartridge

All Image Credit: Linn

Linn has just announced two new upgrades for all that have owned a Sondek LP12 turntable since 1973. The first is the Arko, Linn’s first high performance in-house tone-arm design since 2006 and second, the Kendo, an elite performance moving coil cartridge.

The Arko High-precision gimbaled tonearm

The new Arko sees Linn returning to the fundamentals of arm design. They have removed all the unnecessary frills and concentrated on the mission-critical elements of tonearm design. This new design features an ultra-stable gimbal platform which facilitates superb bearing concentricity and alignment, together with machined and cold-drawn 7075-grade aluminum for the headshell, wand assembly and gimbal. Linn says that “the resultant material synergy and coupling effectively banishing undesirable resonances away from the delicate generator, and out through the sub-chassis”.

Key features:

• 7075-grade aluminum used throughout arm wand, to produce superb resonant behavior
• Machined headshell with weight reduction pockets for increased agility
• Cold-drawn 7075 aluminum arm tube produced to exceedingly high tolerances and accuracy
• Gimbaled 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

The Kendo Moving Coil Cartridge

This new design is predicated on the knowledge gained from and capitalizes on the elements of, Linn’s Ekstatik cartridge design. All of which have been refined to create a more affordable, yet high performance cartridge that “retains the same core design principles and acoustic fingerprint”.

The name Kendo translates from the Japanese, meaning “way of the sword”. In Linn’s case their cantilever sword is forged from boron and sports a super-fine-line diamond tip all wrapped up in the cartridges rigid body armor of nickel-coated 7075-grade aluminum, the same aluminum as used in their Arko arm design. Linn says that when used with the Arko tonearm, “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”. Mounting the Kendo could not be simpler as it also includes aluminum-bronze threaded inserts.

Key features:

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

Technical Specifications:

• Stylus Type: Super Fine Line
• Cantilever: Boron
• Output Voltage: 0.45mV @3.54cm/s
• Channel Balance @ 1KHz:
• Channel Separation @ 1KHz:>28dB
• Load Resistance: 100Ω
• Tracking Force: 2.0gm
• Cartridge Mass: 7.6gm

MSRP:

Arko: From $3,900.00

Kendo: From $3,640.00

For more information on all LP12 turntables and upgrades visit the Linn website.

Read about the Karousel bearing upgrade here.

Read about the “organic” motor speed control upgrade here.