If you've been in the turntable game for a long time, there can be no doubt that you have come across Linn and their K9 cartridge at some stage of the journey. Originally released in 1989 as Linn's base level moving-magnet cartridge, the K9 quickly became a firm favourite and certainly one of ours. But in 2020, what on earth can we use to replace the now discontinued K9?

A K9 cartridge. The earlier models sported this yellow, before changing to a mid-grey colour later on!

The K9 MM cartridge was widely used across many turntables and not just restriced to Linn's LP12s. It was one of those cartridges that just worked no matter what the set-up. Things sounded the way you expected them to. Sonically it was very natural, clean and detailed with a great bass response. This made it really easy to listen to and not at all too taxing for your ears. Cartridges like this make it easy to think “just one more record”... and five hours later, you realise you haven’t eaten dinner yet! While it was never really a ‘cheap’ cartridge at the time, it wasn't the high-end of the market either, so it made for a great mid-range cartridge - and for people who didn’t want to shell out for the real high-end stuff, they didn't have to ‘settle for a lower sound quality’. Of course, cartridges are a matter of taste and some weren't enamoured with the K9 and found themselves shopping elsewhere.

For those loyal K9 fans out there, the news of its discontinuation in 2001 will have been a sad day indeed. I imagine the common thought was "well, what am I supposed to use now?". So we've been searching for another cartridge that fulfils the same expectations as the K9 yet remains in a similar price bracket...

Linn’s Adikt cartridge, fitted as standard to the base level Majik LP12 turntable.

Linn technically 'replaced' the K9 with the Adikt – which is now their base level cartridge and the only MM cartridge they offer. The only trouble is, it costs £400+. While the Adikt is a phenomenal MM cartridge, it no longer filled the space of the K9 because even taking inflation into account, it's just overall a more expensive cartridge. So, we turned to a familiar face… Audio-Technica.

There had always been a link between the K9 and the AT-95 cartridge, after all the K9 was manufactured for Linn by Audio-Technica. The AT-95 stylus was also regularly retro-fitted to the K9 cartridge; it fit, but it wasn't pretty! It is still a popular option today, and is still regularly suggested. Some people didn't approve of that replacement as the AT-95s had always been a cheaper cartridge than the K9, and some felt that even a brand-new AT-95 stylus was worse than a used K9 stylus, so why even bother? - One customer once commented “It’s like putting Volkswagen wheels on a Porsche”, and that always stuck with me.

When searching for K9 replacements, you will always see familiar cartridges such as the Ortofon 2M Red or Blue, various Audio-Technicas, the Dynavector 10x range at the higher end... the list goes on and on. But wait right there! We finally think we've found the perfect replacement…

AUDIO TECHNICA AT-VM95ML

As already mentioned, there has always been a strong affinity between the AT-95s and the K9, and this particular model fits the bill perfectly. The way the MicroLinear (ML) stylus is designed certainly has a part to play in why this particular model works so well. We recently replaced a customer’s beloved Linn K9 for the AT-VM95ML and we found the sound was very similar. Uncannily so, in fact. Much like the Linn K9, it has a very natural, detailed, open sound and is very very pleasant to listen to.

With the Audio-Technica priced at around £150, it is in the same price bracket as the K9 (at the time of release). In fact, using an inflation calculator, £60 in 1989 equates to almost exactly £150 in 2020, so theoretically it's exactly the same price!! It even has a familiar look – although we do miss the iconic bright yellow look of the earlier K9s.

We will certainly be recommending the AT-VM95ML in the future for K9 replacements, and we can confidently say it will perform equally as well as your K9.

Pop-in to any of our shops for cartridge advice at any time!

Chris, John & Paul – Audio-T Brighton

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Audio Technica products are available in all Audio T Stores.

Audio Technica have a very long and illustrious history in the cartridge world and their little AT95e which this replaces was for years the go to entry level cartridge.

The new AT-VM95E is a completely different beast eschewing the old plastic body for a metal one with threaded inserts for the cartridge bolts.

Above is an Audio Technica AT-VM95E cartridge. It’s £45 and probably the cheapest upgrade you could make to an old turntable.

The At-VM95E is a marked improvement sonically over the older model too with loads of detail and resolution for the money.

The fun doesn’t stop there though. With the VM95 series Audio Technica have cleverly produced a single body and a range of styli which can take this from a humble budget moving magnet cartridge to something really quite special.

The range includes Conical (C), Elliptical (E), Nude Elliptical (N), Microlinear (ML) and Shiabata (S) styli.

Each one giving a marked improvement over the previous thus forming a nice logical upgrade path, there is even a 78 stylus for all you bakelite lovers out there.

To say that we are impressed is to put it mildly, even the humble AT-VM95E sounds wonderful with old classics like Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and more recent albums like Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer alike.

We will happily fit one to your turntable, and maybe sell you some new records while we’re at it!

Thanks for reading, we look forward to seeing you at Audio T Brentwood soon.

Audio Technica Hi-Fi products are available at the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Swansea