I selected Krystal in my Linn account and it did the rest for me. There are a number of cartridges with presets, you only have to do it manually if your cartridge is not on the list. Sounds fine to me. I’m not a tweaker so haven’t tried non-standard settings to see if I can improve on the Linn defaults.
I had my Krystal set at 56 dB of gain, rather than the default of 50 dB. I also had the Kandid set at 56 dB, but changed it back to 50 and increased the volume offset (Konfig, sources) to 5.0. There was little or no difference.
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For me 100ohm, 56DB and 1nf is the sweetspot. More lively than the default.
I've no experience adjusting Urika II settings with the Krystal, but plenty with the Lyra Kleos SL (whereas the default settings for Linn cartridges are based on extensive listening, the settings for non-Linn carts are determined solely according to manufacturer's specification). So you would expect that for the Krystal, the defaults are optimal.
Having said that, it's worth experimenting with different settings. I've found with the Kleos that the most important parameter is Input Resistance. The higher the number in Ohms terms, and therefore the lower the loading on the cartridge, the more 'open' the sound. By contrast, a lower Ohms setting increases the load and 'dampens' the presentation. But the difference is subtle even with the Kleos SL, and you may not find a noticeable difference with the Krystal.
Having said that, it's worth experimenting with different settings. I've found with the Kleos that the most important parameter is Input Resistance. The higher the number in Ohms terms, and therefore the lower the loading on the cartridge, the more 'open' the sound. By contrast, a lower Ohms setting increases the load and 'dampens' the presentation. But the difference is subtle even with the Kleos SL, and you may not find a noticeable difference with the Krystal.
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I have default settings for my Kandid, I played a bit with other settings but I came back to default because they seemed better to me.
Maybe with Linn cartridge is better stay to default settings, probably with other brands worth experimenting with.
Maybe with Linn cartridge is better stay to default settings, probably with other brands worth experimenting with.
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Although Linn used to have 10nF on some of the older MC phono stages, the current units don't go that high. The max on the Urika 2 is 2nF as it is on the Uphorik. Capacitance and resistance both work to control cartridge resonances for the best sound and interact with each other so if you use 1.5nF or 2nF instead of 10 you will also have to change the resistance, likely adding more loading (lower number) to compensate.
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