Stamford Audio

The Linn Sondek is a very highly regarded turntable, which can still be purchased new today. In its 30 years of production, over 90,000 units have been made. Throughout its life, Linn have introduced a series of modifications to improve the turntables performance, although it still has a number of limitations; the main one being its sub-chassis. This is made from a pressed steel panel, which can easily resonate, and is not particularly stiff. A sub-chassis should be both light and rigid to minimise energy storage and maximise accuracy. Linn have partly improved the situation with the introduction of the Keel, although it’s outrageously high price has put it out of the reach of all but the most enthusiastic and affluent Linn owners.

The Cetech sub chassis is made from Carbon Fibre and achieves the required properties by combining the material with a high-grade aluminium honeycomb core. The unit is easily fitted to any spec of Linn turntable and offers a significantly bigger improvement than any of the standard Linn upgrades. No modifications to the turntable are required although larger self-tapping screws are used to fasten it to the arm board. This will necessitate a new arm board if the Cetech sub-chassis is removed and the original item replaced with the small Linn supplied screws. Although production of the chassis was stopped in 2004 following my move to New Zealand, the demand has continued, and so the old tooling has been dusted off and re-furbished, and production has now re-commenced.

The chassis can be used with two different arm board mounting options and fixings and instructions are supplied for both.

With the introduction of the Cirkus upgrade, the original Linn chassis was modified so that the central brace was no longer relieved where the bearing was bolted in. As a result, the bearing design was modified to allow for this change in thickness. Although our standard chassis can be used quite successfully with the cirkus bearing, it does cause the platter to sit slightly higher than normal. To overcome this, we have now introduced a modified carbon chassis to accomodate the change in geometry required by the Cirkus upgrade.

The sub-chassis comes complete with comprehensive fitting instructions and diagrams allowing most people to be able to install the chassis without problems.

 

Our original Cetech composite chassis upgrade for the Linn Sondek LP12 has now been available for around 10 years and to mark this occasion, we are delighted to introduce an updated version with integral arm board. This new chassis (known as the Nemesis) has a number of subtle improvements over the original (which will still be available)

• Bonded arm board, ensuring maximum rigidity in the whole subchassis assembly
• Additional carbon fibre plate in the centre of the chassis, giving increased rigidity at the bearing mounting point
• 20% more carbon fibre in the main chassis panel, increasing stiffness even further.

Countersunk screws made from high grade 316 stainless steel are provided to mount your bearing into the new chassis, so that the clearance between the top plate and screws is not compromised by the additional carbon plate.

Chassis are available both for the standard and cirkus bearings and arm boards can be cut to suit Linn, Rega (std and 3 point), SME and Naim arms. Other arms can be accommodated but may take a little longer. Please specify which bearing and arm you have during checkout.

Due the number of different combinations of bearing and arm, all chassis are made to order, so please allow up to 7 working days for dispatch.

You will no doubt have noticed the increasing numbers of clones and copies of the cetech chassis now available both here on ebay as well as through other retail outlets.

So if you are considering upgrading your Linn, why should you buy a cetech chassis?

• Design – The cetech is the original composite chassis upgrade for the Linn Sondek and was designed specifically for this application by a Composites Engineer with 25 years experience of these materials. Many alternatives were tested during the development of the chassis, and the combination of materials that we use has been optimised for this purpose. We do not simply take readily available panels and cut out the shape.
• Materials – Carbon fibre is the ONLY material that combines the light weight and high rigidity that is essential in products like this to achieve maximum performance.
• Track record – The cetech chassis has been in production for 10 years. There are hundreds of these in Linns all over the world.
• Unbiased feedback – We are always happy to receive feedback from our customers, but there is also a wealth of information and comments about the chassis on the various audio forums on the web. Check out what other people have to say and don’t just take our word for it. We have nothing to hide.
• Comprehensive instructions – Each chassis is supplied with all necessary fixings and a comprehensive instruction leaflet detailing the installation.
• Customer satisfaction – This is very important to us and we offer assistance (via email) where necessary during the installation. We also offer a full money back guarantee (less postage charges) if you are not delighted with the chassis.

We are also now looking to set up a network of installers / agents around the world. Please contact us via our website www.derwent.co.nz if you are interested in joining the team.

Do not even consider buying a Keel. Save yourself thousands of dollars by switching to the Cetech instead. Below are a few comments from very satisfied customers of the original chassis :-

It works tremendously well!
unbelievable...

I do think the Cetech allows a much greater level of detail to be retrieved especially since I bolted the armboard to the subchasis as you suggest.

Wonderful piece, perfectly packed !

I agree with you: "there is more amount of details and emotion in the
music and the ability to hear the individual notes start and stop"