Linn LP12......That good??

I had a single speed 80s vintage LP12 with a Grace tonearm, Sumiko cartridge, and Mitch Cotter cabling. A decent Linn rig. I went to my Linn guy once for suspension readjustment. Sadly, the table never had the oomph and vaunted sound quality I'd hope it would have based on everything I'd read.  I gave up on vinyl (again) for a time until I bought the VPI Player. The VPI leaves the Linn in the dust on all fronts. I think I, and many others, have fallen for the LP12 hype and then have had the reality crash down on us.  

A "real Linn" purchased new costs upwards of $10K+. I’ll pass. There is better value to be had for that amount of money than even a new Linn. All I know is that my current analog front end sounds great and does not have the blah sound I suffered with for the seven years I had the LP12. Even after "fixing" it at a Linn dealer it was blah. I’m very happy with my VPI. If I ever have the cash to improve my rig it’ll be a VPI, no doubt.

"How much does a 'real VPI' cost these days??"

Good question! As much a souped up Linn! The VPI Prime Signature is about $6K; the Avenger Standard is $10K; the bespoke Classic Direct is about $35.

Since getting into this insane hobby in 1975, I had always wanted a Linn Sondek LP12. When I purchased it used, I spent about $800. This included the table, the Cotter cables, and the tonearm. I bought a Sumiko Blackbird, which is no slouch when it comes to cartridges, and a Clearaudio phono preamp. Even with all of that I couldn't get good sound out of it, even after tweaking the suspension, it was still not good. I think the comments made here about the table being quirky are very true.

I knew that my table's Achilles heel was the Grace tonearm. But my financial decision came down to this: should I invest in something brand-new, or should I throw money -- at least $1K or more -- at a 30-some-odd-year old turntable with one speed. I chose the former and bought a VPI player. And, I have to say, out of the box, using their internal phono preamp, it sounded worlds apart from the Linn, better than I expected.

That's my story.

daveyf,

Fair point. But experience is everything. Mine was not good.

I knew after a month or two of using it that the Grace arm was the weak link in my system. I told my dealer this and he agreed. But the price of a new Linn arm and cartridge -- I wouldn’t buy anything else -- was prohibitive. My hobby dollars have to be spent wisely. Even you would have to agree that "fixing up" a thirty year old turntable is fraught with a limited return on investment. Fortunately, when I sold the system as separate entities, I broke even.

If someone gave me a brand spanking new Linn, with all the SOTA bells and whistles it could accommodate, I bet I’d be singing a different tune. Alas, that was not the case...

(P.S., and, it was single speed only, which precluded me from listening to my high-end 45 RPM LPs (and my youthful 45s as well...)

We are our experiences. That's all I can say.

However, if someone on this marvelous forum wants to gift me a new, fully tricked out LP12, I'll be happy to publicly eat my words... :-)