Linn CD12 CD Player ...Opinions

Linn no longer is making cd players. That may or may not tell you something about their committment to servicing them. They feel (as many do) that the future of digital is in hard drive based systems not only for convience but for
performance. I believe they think (again as many do) that
the limitations of Redbook cd standards have been reached and we need to move forward to achieve better sound.
That said the Linn is obviously a good player and will most likely get the as much out of a cd collection as any number of high quality spinners out today.

It has been quite a while since I've heard the CD12, but, it at least was a terrific sounding CD player at that time. The fact that it is old does not necessarily mean its sound is out of date. A lot of current players purposefully use older chipsets in their DACs because, in their analysis, these older chips do a better job than the latest chips. These older chips have actually become quite valuable for this reason (some examples are Zanden and Naim).

Improved audio quality is NOT the driver when it comes to priorities in "improving" newer chips. The main concerns are adding more functions (not just digital to analogue conversion), smaller size, lower power consumption and lower price.

However, the other concern is availability of replacement parts. I hope Linn kept enough spares to support the CD 12 for a long time. I would expect Linn to have done this because they appear to be a company that thinks about the long run and about keeping the same customers for a long time.

overkill...even today. a great player.

I would look at like this for the price of x what else is out there at the same price point either new or used and then see which sounds better.

digital is a moving target certain $1,000-$3,000.00 players today beat the stuffings out of much more expensive older players.\

I heard one years ago before I bought and Ikemi. I have since bought the Ayre C5xe-mp and it is way better than the Ikemi was. My guess is that the Ayre would sound as good if not better than the CD12. That is a really old technology by todays D/a standards. I would say the price is really relative to the value. Another point is will there be any service and parts available. Just my opinion.
Don't get me wrong the CD12 sounded great but it was relative to the CD players of the time.