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Linn Ittok - Audio Origami rewire

taffyboy1

pfm Member
Hi

Curious if anyone on here has had their Ittok V2 re-wired by Audio Origami, I've no doubt Johnnie is very competent which I am certainly not questioning.

Just wanted to get some feedback from anyone who has had any tonearm updates and the difference in sound quality

thanks in advance as always
 
I had mine done a few years ago. Excellent service and value. I had some bearing work done at the same time. The arm came back better than ever.
 
I’d rewire my arms only is the tags were corroded or the thin wires broken somewhere.
I wouldn’t expect any sonic benefits though.
Preamp matching is much, much more important in my opinion.
 
Johnnie said that the rewire removes the upper-mid/lower-treble glare. If it does then that's reason enough to do it in my book.

Only issue, last I heard he was not working on the Ittok/Ekos any more. Which would be a real shame as who else is?
 
I’d rewire my arms only is the tags were corroded or the thin wires broken somewhere.
I wouldn’t expect any sonic benefits though.
Preamp matching is much, much more important in my opinion.

You'd be in for a nice surprise then as rewiring a tonearm can make a BIG difference.
 
Re above I am soon to be receiving a new (to me) mk 1 Ekos. I thought about a rewire before it goes on and phoned Audio Origami to enquire. 'Actual Johnnie' was not there but I spoke to someone at Loud and Clear who seemed to know what he was talking about. When I told them the name of the very reputable dealer I'm getting it from the (sensible) question then asked was 'how do you know it needs a re-wire?'

I was pretty clear at the end of the call that 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' applies to internal tonearm wiring. At any rate, they didn't want my money. I took that as a sign that they were not out to work at the expense of over-enthusiastic punters. Your mileage may differ but given I know about as much about the inside of a tonearm as I do about the inside of a clutch I rely on good advice in both cases and after that call I was in no doubt that I'd just received some.
 
How? Less capacitance for instance would alter the sound of MMs but MCs ?

I'm not 100% sure of the 'why' or 'how' (I'm not a scientist) it makes a difference I just know that it does, though easily enough proved by repeated listening tests with a variety of tonearms.

Many years ago I had a NA Hyperspace with two armboards and a selection of tonearms, it was quite clear the difference in the Hadcock tonearms wired with different wire, Incognito (Cardas copper based) and VDH silver, same cartridges, a variety of both MM and MC. Similarly the differences can be clearly heard when comparing a stock RB300 and an incognito rewired RB300.

As a tonearm is passive mechanism I can only assume the differences clearly heard on different wiring is down to the actual materials used, I assume that different qualities of copper or silver produce different sonic traits.
 
l rely on good advice in both cases and after that call I was in no doubt that I'd just received some.

I would talk to Johnnie in person, firstly to see if he's even still doing rewires on these old Linn arms. And secondly to get his opinion on what it's likely to achieve.
 
Out of total ignorance and limited experience, I'd say that if the different lengths and formats (but I do have experience of those), properties,, design, construction etc. of tonearms can introduce different sonic presentations from a cart., why shouldn't the actual (tiny) signal carrier AND its properties, construction and interconnectivity make a tonal difference?

Besides, unless you've got something better and more accurate than my original Dr. F protractor, every time you change a cart. or its host, you'll not get an identical result. Cynical, probably, but logical? I think 'yes'.

Swapping a Benz Ebony, K Urushi and Tr. Proteus from 12" gimbal to 12" unipivot and vice versa a few years back created an effectively new cart.
 
When he did my LVIII, John wasn't too keen on the Linn original cable , seemed to think it was the same stuff as used by Rega. Anyway I opted for the Cardas copper and if I ever had any glare, I certainly don't have it any more. Maybe I shouldn't have had the foam tube insert so I could still criticise it. At the time John told me it was just as good as the Ekos of then, and that Linn never skimped on the quality of their bearings.
 
Nic

just wondered what your findings were that's all
It was great. The bearings and wiring were done so the arm functioned much better. As it was a week or two between hearing it before/after, I cannot tell you exactly how much better it was...my audio memory doesn't work that well. Suffice to say, it was excellent.
 
It was great. The bearings and wiring were done so the arm functioned much better. As it was a week or two between hearing it before/after, I cannot tell you exactly how much better it was...my audio memory doesn't work that well. Suffice to say, it was excellent.

appreciate your feedback Nic
 


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