Linn Krystal Moving Coil Cartridge

The Krystal is the entry point to Linn's serious moving coil cartridge range — above the Koil and Adikt MM cartridges, and below the Kendo, Kandid, and Ekstatik. At £1,535, it is the cartridge for LP12 owners on a Majik LP12 or mid-level build who want to move into MC territory without the price of the Kendo.

The Krystal uses the same design principles and body construction approach as the rest of the Linn MC range, scaled appropriately for its position. It delivers a genuine performance step over moving magnet designs — more speed, better transient response, lower mass — without requiring the supporting infrastructure that makes the Kendo and Kandid perform at their best.

Design and Construction

The Krystal body is precision-machined from 7075-grade aluminium — the same aerospace alloy used throughout the Linn cartridge range. The machined body provides a rigid, resonance-controlled foundation for the generator. Mass has been managed to 7.0 g, which keeps the cartridge within the correct range for Linn tonearms at the Majik and Selekt level.

The cantilever is an aluminium tube — lighter and less expensive to produce than boron, but still a significant step in rigidity over the plastic cantilevers used in budget moving coil designs. The stylus is a vital fine-line profile: a step above elliptical, with better groove tracing ability and improved high-frequency resolution.

The triple-point mounting system ensures accurate, repeatable alignment geometry.

Krystal vs Kendo

The step from Krystal to Kendo is primarily a cantilever and stylus upgrade: boron versus aluminium tube, super-fine-line versus vital fine-line. Both represent genuine improvements in resolution, channel separation, and groove tracing accuracy. The Krystal is the correct choice for Majik-level LP12 builds; the Kendo is the correct choice once the sub-chassis, arm, and motor have been upgraded to Selekt level or above. Running a Kendo on a stock Majik LP12 means the cartridge cannot fully express what it is capable of.

Technical Specifications

Who Is It For?

The Krystal is the right first MC cartridge for an LP12. If you are running a Majik LP12 and want to move from MM to MC, or if your Adikt or Koil has reached the end of its stylus life and you want to step up, the Krystal is where to start. It is also suitable for older LP12 builds at Majik level where the rest of the system is not yet upgraded — it delivers MC performance without demanding more of the arm and sub-chassis than they can provide.

It is compatible with the Uphorik as an external phono stage, and with the Urika for internal Radikal-powered installations.

Buying from Martins Hi-Fi

Martins Hi-Fi has been in Norwich since 1968, and the Linn range has been part of what we do for years. We are still family-run — Ted Martin's daughter Elizabeth runs the business today — and we stock only brands we have heard properly and stand behind.

Cartridge fitting, tracking force setting, and alignment are all best carried out professionally — small errors in setup translate directly into reduced performance and unnecessary stylus or record wear. Martins can carry out the complete fitting as part of our LP12 servicing work.

Reach them at dave@martinshifi.co.uk, chris@martinshifi.co.uk, info@martinshifi.co.uk, call on 01603 627010, or WhatsApp Dave or Chris directly on 07554 687137. You can read more about who we are and how we work on our Why Martin's page. We are at 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY, open six days a week.

Contact: info@martinshifi.co.uk | 01603 627010 | WhatsApp: 07554 687137 | 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY