Now that I know my Akito bearings need a service, I'm wondering if I should also consider a rewire. I've been recommended J7.

Has anyone had bearings and wiring serviced for the Akito/1?

It would cost in total 1/3-1/2 the price of a used Ittok.

I don't know what sort of tune impact the wiring would have. So keen to hear people's experiences

I haven’t heard the J7 modification, but my first thought was to not gamble on it being an improvement. Almost without exception, every audiophile upgrade I’ve heard has resulted in an improved sound at the expense of musicality. Also, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the wiring in the Akito, since as far as I’m aware, it’s the same wire used throughout the Linn range. I don’t know enough about the bearing change to know if there are any risks involved.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I think I'll just bide my time and enjoy the deck as it is.

Despite the Akito's disappointing failure in the vertical and horizontal bearing tests, I'm really enjoying the LP12.

Sticky bearings will almost certainly cause you to lose musicality, so the bearing replacement may be worth the gamble. If it doesn’t work out for you, you can sell it and get a within spec Akito. Either way you should end up with something better than you have now 🤞

I’m no lp12 guru but when I bought my deck due to the lack of funds I bought a used but fully serviced akito/1 from johnny (Audio Origami). That arm sounded fantastic for the money and I regret selling it. I would surely reach out to him as I think he’s really good and honest.

I replaced the arm with an ittok3 mk2 and can’t really say if the ittok is that much better when comparing the $$ value.

springwood64 wrote: ↑2024-05-02 18:32 Thanks for your thoughts.

I think I'll just bide my time and enjoy the deck as it is.

Despite the Akito's disappointing failure in the vertical and horizontal bearing tests, I'm really enjoying the LP12.

Zee9 wrote: ↑2024-05-11 14:57 I replaced the [Akito 1] with an ittok3 mk2 and can’t really say if the ittok is that much better when comparing the $$ value.

Linn said the same thing after the Ittok was discontinued and the only arm they were selling at the same price level was the Akito (!)

I heard the two and there was no comparison IMHO. Don't know how the later Akitos fared against the ittok but I think your Ittok 3/2 was a fabulous arm, basically an Ekos 1 without the bearing issues!

So the Ekos 1 was the arm plagued with the bearing issues?

sktn77a wrote: ↑2024-05-12 20:52

Zee9 wrote: ↑2024-05-11 14:57 I replaced the [Akito 1] with an ittok3 mk2 and can’t really say if the ittok is that much better when comparing the $$ value.

Linn said the same thing after the Ittok was discontinued and the only arm they were selling at the same price level was the Akito (!)

I heard the two and there was no comparison IMHO. Don't know how the later Akitos fared against the ittok but I think your Ittok 3/2 was a fabulous arm, basically an Ekos 1 without the bearing issues!

Zee9 wrote: ↑2024-05-21 15:46 So the Ekos 1 was the arm plagued with the bearing issues?

The first Ekos had a propensity for the VTF adjuster to get sticky. This was not related to the bearings. My Ekos1 had a sticky VTF adjuster and it performed fine. As far as I know there were no issues with the Ekos bearings.

markiteight wrote: ↑2024-05-21 23:02

Zee9 wrote: ↑2024-05-21 15:46 So the Ekos 1 was the arm plagued with the bearing issues?

The first Ekos had a propensity for the VTF adjuster to get sticky. This was not related to the bearings. My Ekos1 had a sticky VTF adjuster and it performed fine. As far as I know there were no issues with the Ekos bearings.

This is my experience as well. I was sometimes able to repair the sticky tracking force dial, but not always. If you sent an Ekos 1 with the sticky dial back to Linn you could get it upgraded to an Ekos 2 with improved bearings as well. But I only recall one Ekos 1 that actually had bad bearings. It had been through a fire which had melted the armrest!

Zee9 wrote: ↑2024-05-21 15:46 So the Ekos 1 was the arm plagued with the bearing issues?

"Plagued" is perhaps an overstatement but yes, the Ekos 1 did have bearing issues, along with sticking tracking force adjustment and sticking bias compensation adjustment. Linn updated many Ekos 1 to Ekos 2 spec (basically replacing the arms with an Ekos 2), I suspect because of this. They no longer do this and I don't think they repair Ekos 1 arms with bearing or adjustment issues.