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

I had an LP12 for about 20 years. It went through various upgrades: an Ekos I, Naim ARO, then back to an Ekos II, cirkus bearing, Naim Armageddon power supply. At the end I did the full Linn upgrade route - Keel, Ekos SE, Radikal ... and it sounded terrible. It was coloured, dull sounding and had poor speed stability. The best version was the earliest - and cheapest one. It was very musical but my expectations were low. But after spending around $20k on upgrades, my expectations were high and it did not meet them. And, yes, it was set up by a very experienced and highly regarded Linn technician.

Now I have Kuzma turntables - a Kuzma Stabi S and Stabi Reference. These sound amazing. Even the cheaper Stabi S is better than the full spec LP12 at a fraction of the price. They are well designed and have solid engineering behind them. And they do not need a technician trained in the mystical arts of Linn set-up to wave his magic wand at it every few years. I can set them up myself in minutes.

Thirty years ago the LP12 was a decent mid-price deck that had its strengths and weaknesses. Today it is just not competitive.

daveyf, do you honestly think I would spend $20k on a turntable and not try to solve its problems? I spent 6 months with my dealer (a very experienced and highly regarded Linn technician) working on it. There was nothing wrong with the Radikal. The problem, as it always has been, is the Linn suspension, which is inherently unstable. Speed stability from any Linn deck is audibly inferior to most others, because the platter is constantly trying to balance itself on top of three compressed springs, while simultaneously resisting the sideways force of the belt. It doesn't matter how good the power supply is because the turntable design itself is fundamentally flawed, and this is audible.

I get that you like your LP12. But that does not mean that people who cannot accepts its undisputed shortcomings are deaf or fundamentally incompetent.

daveyf, let us assume for the sake of argument that you are right and that the only problem with my LP12 was that it was poorly set up. If that is true - and it's not, but leave that aside - it follows that a competent and experienced Linn technician who has been doing this for 30 years cannot successfully set up the turntable then there must be a fundamental problem with the turntable's design.