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LP 12 Owners-If you were going to buy a new TT ...

While I love the sound of my LP12 when its properly set up, it is a finicky beast which hates to be moved. I have moved with my table three times, and readjusting has always been a bit of a pain. For example, I wish speed was easier to regulate, I wish setting up the correct belt height was not so touchy, I wish my Ekos had adjustable VTA, etc. While not fed up to the point of wanting an immediate change, I do wonder occassionally when I see pictures and reviews of some of the new tables popping up in the market. Wondering if any fellow Linnies have moved on (or are considering moving on) to other designs. What woud top the list for about the same money as a fully decked out LP12 (Ekos, Lingo, Arkiv)?
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alexc's avatar
alexc OP
265 posts
 
Patrick - VTA on the Ekos can only be adjusted the hard way --- by lowering or raising the entire arm. Not the most reproducibel approach for fine tuning compared to other arms out there. The speed control bit is related to the belt position on the pulley, which can only be adjusted by changing the tilt angle on the pulley/motor. For some mysterious reasonn, mine must have gone out of whack in the last move - the belt has a tough time climbing up the pulley and simply falls off..or it rides too high. The Linn set up manual tells you the speed will be right if the belt is at right spot on the pulley (or viceversa), but all they show you is a rather crude line drawing. My belt looks too high vs the drawing when it stays on, but the only way to be sure is to measure the speed. Proper speed/belt height adjustment is of course done by your dealer when he sets up the table...using Linn's very own high precission strobe (whihc, like the famous set up jig, aint for sale to us mere mortals). The thing is..I don't have Linn dealer anywhere near close, so have to make do on my own (plus any self respecting Linn dealer would refuse to touch my table after all the Extreme Phono mods!) So far, have not managed to get it "right". I have a KAB Strobe on the way which will hopefully help, but it will still be a pain (a quarter of the tiny screws makes a big difference--and of course if you over do it you can damage the top of the actual motor casing....)
alexc's avatar
alexc OP
265 posts
 
Well..I'm not about to dump my LP12 yet...I figure I still need to get some value out of the last upgrade (the carbon fiber subchassis and armboard mod, which DID improve the basss). Like Jackob sez, I guess my problem is one of not REALLY knowing what the heck is wrong with it (or how to fix it) when the sound does not quite "gel". The belt thing is odd. I put a new belt on and it seems to be fine...but the one it replaced was only 2 6 mnoths old. The latest one is a mistracking issue, thogu perhaps I'm being paranoid. My rig will track just about everything I own great, but it sounded like crap on the AP Miles Davis box set..and I sounds like crap on the EMI Pro Use DSOM LP I bought on ebay 2 weeks ago. Perhaps these are just cut too "hot" for the Ekos/Arkiv B to handle..but considering the cost of this arm and cartridge it is really criminal that they fail to play these LP's back well!
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