Ortofon Jubilee on Ekos II - comments?


I'm looking at an Ortofon Jubilee cartridge for my LP12/Ekos II. Linn says that a cartridge for the Ekos II should weigh between 3 and 9 grams and the Jubilee weighs 10.5 grams. Will this be a problem?

I am also considering:

Lyra Helikon
Transfiguration Spirit
Benz Micro Ruby 2 (for $1800 with trade in)

Associated equipment:

Linn Linto phono stage (64 dB of gain)
Plinius SA102 amp M16 pre
Verity Audio Parsifal Encore speakers

any comments?
thanks for any advice,
gb
gboren
Going out of the manufacturer's recommmended mass range could cause a problem with resonance. But, it is possible that it wouldn't be a problem with your particular system. I would check the total mass figures for the arm and cartridge on the mass/resonance charts for a guideline. Around 12 is a good figure, but as low as 8, and as high as 16 could be ok.
I am using an Ortofon Kontrapunkt B in an Ittok with excellent results. I don't think you will have a problem with the B in the Ekos. You may want to contact Mrstereo, a member who sells cartridges and has had much experiences with compatibility (of vinyl).
I owned Linto, Troka, and Arkiv B for an extended period of time. My experience with Linto and trying different cartridges concluded that Linto sounded best with Linn cartridges. I tried Troika as well as Arkiv B. Even with a more expensive Koetsu plugging into the Linto, the music sounded funny.

So if you plan on maximizing the quality of Linto - very fast, tight sound, and a bit reticent in HF seems to complement the very fast and dynamic, but slight bright Linn cartridges.

The match was so good, if I continue to use Linn cartridge, I wouldn't have traded the Linto for a million. Someone commented that the Linto+Arkiv/Troika combo seriously kicked a much more expensive FM Acoustic setup.

For the same price of Kontrapunkt, get an used Troika. It can be retipped to like new for about $600.
Extreme is right. If you have a Linto get a Linn cartridge and don't look back.