The new Linn LP12 50th Anniversary edition
Linn have just announced their 50th anniversary edition LP12. See here:linn.co.uk/us/
The price is going to be starting at $60K.
Looks nice, but the price, like so much in the industry these days, seems to be what they used to call ' a thumb suck' number.
Thoughts??
If it helps put a perspective on the costs associated with this TT. I am successful with having purchase a Board of Phenolic Resin Impregnated Densified Wood that when cut down to Plinth Size Dimensions at 25mm thickness costs approx' £100 per plinth material. I would really like to know what this equates to on the Linn Table, the P'holz seen in the link will still most likely be close to 10 x cheaper than the Linn mark up for their piece of this material or equivalent . |
@lalitk thanks. Will check that out. |
@zavato Knowing Linn, they will be both ridiculously priced and delusionally priced, LOL. |
@daveyf I can always hope that the hinges are merely ridiculously priced and not delusionally priced |
@zavato Even if the hinges are retrofittable, do you want to pay the kind of cost that Linn would have in mind for a better solution to hold up your lid??? Since I only use the lid for a way to protect the table from dust when not in use, personally I would see little to no value in improving on it. YMMV. |
The following is a extract from a Marketing Description about the release of the TT. It certainly looks like Linn are now adopting Phenolic Resin Impregnated Densified Wood, as a material incorporated into this design. They certainly are vague about the product in use, but it will most likely be a Delignit (Panzerholz) or Permali Product if sourced in the UK or Europe. There are not many places to go when looking for improvements to a mechanical interface, where dissipation and damping are seen as a valuable commodity. ______________________________________________________________ Linn was already in the process of incorporating a new wood technology for its plinth (the case), which pushes layers of timber together under high pressure to create a facade that is acoustically silent. (Whereas an acoustic guitar or other wooden instrument uses its wood for resonance, a turntable wants to mute those vibrations.) LoveFrom spent hours on calls learning the boundaries of the design, and homed in on dozens of details that it could address in the product. |
Dear @roxy54 : What I try to say is that manufacturers as Linn TTs or Lamm electronics ( as other manufacturers too. ) and through the time they pull and hold a niche of fanatic audiophiles for its products and that’s good and maybe, even that I been in touch with those manufactuers products and that I never will buy it, for good reasons for the owners. If you talk with a Linn or Lamm owner and you ask if they are willing to change its items the normal answer is NO, they are fanatics and you can’t even post something " agressive " against it ( of course any one can post about. ). What could justify the Linn tag price for each one of those fanatics that already bougth it? So I said " create fame and go to sleep ". A linn owner will buy almost everything that comes from Linn as in the Lamm niche too. In the Lamm area things are really bad for its fanatics that not even looks or read what it comes inside units on quality level passive/active parts. An example in the pho signature: RIAA eq. has a deviation close to -1db from 100hz and below and at the other extreme things started at 10khz and guess what: those 3 cartridge inputs comes with different RIAA deviation leels , go figure ! !. The unit comes with an internal Jensen SUT ( not the best out there transformers, not even silver wired. ), it comes with 3 inputs for MC/MM cartridges but only has one phono stage and 3 switches in between ( not good enough for the heavy price tag. ), in its site speaks of resistor/caps miltary grade and owners could think that those military grade has a true improve over the normal one and it’s not way because performs exactly with the same quality level: military offers higher temperature use and larger life than non-military passive parts. You have to pay around 80K for the phono + line stage and 7 metal boxes that between other things could " impress " to some gentlemans. Yes, to all those manufacturers market/audiophile owner niche obviously they had to work over time.
But the issue is: true/real justification of the high tag prices, what are reiciving any one else of us in change when we paid those prices?. I know very well these two examples and as I said nothing wrong with that because the audio market is a business market and is OK. My comment was not stay against any of those manufacturers but looking for answers to the main price issue., only this. Every one is free to spend his money in the way he wants.
R.
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@vinylvalet I guess you were not one of the 250 buyers. Although, I suspect you would not have that opinion if you could have been....;0) |
@daveyf 250 wow that’s just crazy |
And yet Linn has sold all 250 of these in just a few weeks! One could argue that they priced them way too low!!! |
" Lamm is other example and nothing wrong with because manufacturers stay in the audio market for busines$$ as more the better always that been/be audiophiles to pay their audio items. It’s a well defined market game, especially in audio " high end " niche." Can you explain what that means? I’m not understanding what you said. |
60k for an airpax motor turntable… if it were milled from titanium it still won’t be worth that with a markup. The LP12 is a fine deck and deserves its place in audio history. The best LP12’s I have heard are by The Funk Firm and Vinyl Passion and they come out waaaaaayyyyyyy less than £60k. It’s this idiocy that leads to the gradual demise of the audio industry |
Dear @daveyf : As people say here in my country:
" Achieve fame and go to " sleep " "
Lamm is other example and nothing wrong with because manufacturers stay in the audio market for busines$$ as more the better always that been/be audiophiles to pay their audio items. It's a well defined market game, especially in audio " high end " niche.
Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
I'm just going to reiterate what I said elsewhere; You're paying for an industrial artist's work, not improved performance. I never heard of him until this new Linn turntable and I'm not an Apple person. Frankly it looks cheap in the photos. You know, if Banksy designed and signed an Ion or Crosley table it could sell for a hundred grand and they all would sell. |
I own a LP12 Klimax, and run a Lyra Etna. My sentimental side led me to a suspension TT. I think many people (including me) get surprised by its sensitivity to vibration/footfall. I expect the 50th anniversary edition is no different. Sure, I have buyer's remorse knowing I could have purchased better SQ with a "newer design" TT. Linn gear is overpriced across the board (IMO) but people will buy it without looking "under the kilt" Short answer, no, it's not worth it to me. |
I own a LP12. I am retired. Let’s say my net worth was three times what it is. I spend three hours a day listening to my system. The extra cost is no big deal to me. I have always loved Linn turntables. Why not. It is not only about performance any more. There are a lot of folks that have earned a lot of money. This isn’t for those of us that are budget constrained… it is for those that are not. Also, if you’re young and can afford it… in fifty years it will be a collectors item. |
So that this is not taken in the wrong light, I am a fan of the LP12 table, and I own one. However, I fail to understand the value of new hinges and a new shaped button or logo? I never use my lid for anything but a dust cover to be used only when the table is NOT in use. To add $30k for the benefit of a different plinth ( assuming there is even a benefit) and for the different shape of the sub chassis and power button, plus the “exclusive “ badging, makes zero sense to me. The crazy thing is, Linn has apparently sold 120 of these 50th Anniv models already, which tells me that there are quite a few ‘unaware’ folk out there…with more money than sense, imho. |
@perkri +1! I have the pre-Linn Ariston RD and the later Ariston RD11S in my TT collection, along with an LP12. Ivor did indeed copy Stuart Hamish’s Ariston. In fact Ivor had Stuart build the first year’s LP12 production at the Ariston factory in Scotland. Both the Ariston and Linn are excellent belt-drive TT’s derived from the much-earlier Acoustic Research (AR) TT from Edgar Vilchur (half a million sold!). |
@ghdprentice Speaking of automobiles, you can get a new Lexus RX350 or Volvo XC90 for the price of that turntable. We both know what is value for money and what isn't. The beauty of my well-fettled vintage gear is in the maximal bang for the buck achieved. That I can put together a great-sounding system for less than the nostalgia tax you may be willing to pay on that Linn gives me great satisfaction. I'm well aware that it can be bettered, but I prefer to allocate my funds on other endeavors, and not by lining the pockets of the likes of Mr. Tiefenbrun. |
While the Thorens is a good table, I do think the Linn is probably better. However, is it 10-30 times better, that i seriously doubt! Interesting thing is that there are apparently 120 of the 250 tables released already accounted for! That would seem to indicate that there are a ton of consumers who think nothing of dropping sixty large! I guess when you are worth $200+ million, what is sixty large...... |
That’s a freaking down payment on a house! Who in the he$$ can afford this stuff?? Not me.... You can go to Thomman USA and buy yourself a brand new Thorens TD 1500 for what amounts to $1850 US dollars! ($2999 if bought in US). It is a suspended turntable that commemorates the original Thorens TD 150. I bet it sounds just as good as that LP12... I own it and it's a fabulous turntable for the money. |
These figures seen in the link are the figures the Public are allowed to see. It is easy to work out why there are High Price Ticket Items, they work very well for massaging the profit line in an ascending direction. https://www.insider.co.uk/company-results-forecasts/linn-doubles-down-rd-report-29678190 |
@ghdprentice You kill me! I hope you have the V6 Lexus and not that awful new 4 pot turbo. The white LP12-50 looks like an iMac. |
