New Akito vs. old Akito on LP12

Why not check out Moerch? They're Danish I believe, and their starting price is around £600 - only a little more than the Akito.

The new Akito is a lot better than the old one, so if you want to stick with more established matches, it would be a good match.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

How can you tell if an Akito is an old or new version ? Is it as simple as looking for a "made in ...." stamp somewhere on the arm ?

And approx when was the crossover between old & new ?

Regards

chris

[This message was edited by Chris Brandon on TUESDAY 05 February 2002 at 12:18.]

And isn't a good, used Ittok cheaper than a new Akito? Anybody compare the two?

Thanks.

Phil

Later Ittoks are better than the new Akito (Akito 2). Although the new Akito is said to be better than early and mid-period Ittoks. I'm not sure on which Ittok model numbers correspond to which level of comparative quality.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
Currently in the "Linn Binn"

From Linn's Tonearms and Cartridges documentation...

"Akito, Introduced - 1989
replaced by:
Akito/2, Introduced Dec 1994, Serial No. 100,000
Scottish built, better bearings, paint."

The Akito/2 has 'Made in Scotland' stenciled on the rear face of the arm mounting collar as opposed to the originals declaration of being 'Made in Japan'. Also the black painted finish of the Akito/2 is stippled as opposed to the smooth finish of the original.

Some contend that these cosmetics (and the price) are the only differences between the Akito/1 and /2. I haven't compared them but, I do believe that Linn sold the Akito/2 pre-installed on the last incarnation of their budget Basik turntable, which leads one to wonder how a 500 GBP tonearm could possibly have been included with a turntable/tonearm combination that sold for less.

As far as the better bearings bit goes, the same Linn Tonearms and Cartridges document describes the same number of horizontal swings when testing the Basik and Akito bearings...

"Ekos - should have 35 swings minimum
LVII/LVIII - should have 30 swings minimum
Akito/Basik - should have 15 swings minimum"

Also, the vertical bearing test indicates the same weighted disc be used for the Basik/Akito...

"Drop appropriate weight for arm onto headshell from approximately 10 mm above headshell.
EKOS red coloured disc
ITTOK blue coloured disc
AKITO/BASIK yellow coloured disc"

I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Craig

[This message was edited by Craig Best on TUESDAY 05 February 2002 at 20:13.]

Thanks for the info Craig (pretty comprehensive !)

I never knew !!!

...just going off to my LP12 for a close up inspection......

Regards

Chris

To all: Thank you for your help so far.

Frank,

Yes, I'm Danish. I know about Moerch, they look nice but I have no real experience with these. Are they a good match with an LP12? And which model to go for?

Phil,

A good s/h Ittok is almost as difficult to find as an Ekos/Aro - unless you want to buy a complete LP12. This could be an option if the price was OK though.

Is it correct that Ittok LVIII is a fair bit better than LVII which again is better than LVI (does that even exist?)

Claus

Hi,

the Moerch UP4 is definitely a good match for your LP12, soundwise, and I like it very much. But installation, setup and daily use are a real pain. A friend's wife refused using his turntable after mounting an UP4. The DP6 is much easier to use, but I from the short time I had the DP6 myself, I had the feeling, that it lacked the immediacy that the UP4 has, a little bit laid back. Though there are LP12/DP6 users on the "vinyl asylum", who swear on that combo, and prefer it over Ekos and so on.

Alternatives to used Ittoks and new Akitos are Mission Mechanic, Zeta Black Zeta, DNM Yota, maybe Breuer. Although those are even more rare than Ittok/Akito, they show up on the s/h market from time to time, and are worth considering.

regards,
Hartmut, tonearm collector and repairman from Munich, Germany