Linn pick-ups have historically been on the incisive side. While the Kandid is a far less attractive looking affair than the svelte, black-bodied Akiva, it shows every sign of being as meticulously hand-built. Recommended tracking force is 1.72-1.77g (we found the cartridge worked at its best at 1.75g). A plastic front yoke screw is fitted (metal might interfere magnetically with the pick-up coils) and this allows the arm counterweight to be set closer to the bearings.
Out of the generator assembly protrudes a boron cantilever tipped with a 3x70µm nude line contact stylus the angle at which this sits has been changed from the Akiva’s 23° to 20°, so as to bring the front and rear magnets inside the generator into perfect alignment when the correct tracking weight is applied. The chassis is aircraft-grade aluminium, and sports the three-point mounting hole system first seen in the Troika a quarter of a century ago (you can use just the main two holes if not fitting it to a Linn or Naim arm). Potentially, this makes installation hazardous but the Kandid’s clever stylus guard is more like a ‘body guard’, which makes fitting it a relatively easy process. So designers have periodically experimented with all sorts of housing materials, but the Kandid dispenses with a conventional body altogether.
It has long been known that cartridge bodies induce coloration. The Kandid differs in several significant ways, the most visually conspicuous of which is its new ‘naked’ generator assembly. It replaces the Akiva, which has flown the marque’s flag for MCs for a good few years now. The Kandid is a device purposed to work hand-in-glove with the Sondek LP12 turntable and Ekos SE tonearm combination.
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