@mijostyn If nothing else, your posts make me laugh, particularly after a hard day. So thanks for that. Get myself a decent turntable, like your Sota?? No thanks; if I’m going to step up in tables it’s going to be to the likes of a Basis Inspiration or TW Acoustics BN..maybe a Brinkmann Balance. These tables are what it takes to sound better than my current LP12 set up. You should consider listening to them, which I am almost 100% sure you have never done, but beware...if you do, be prepared to open the pocketbook!
In the meantime, having had a fellow a’phile friend over tonight for a listen to my ’faulty’ Linn, all I can say is that he is now considering selling his pretty Garrard 301 in a Artisan Fidelity plinth to replace it with a like kind....LP12! ....;0)
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I’m afraid you’ve lost me.
1979?
stereophile?
As recently as June 2022, Herb Reichert reviewed the latest (and current) Klimax and said this:
“Does the Klimax sound as good as the best turntables at any price? Its performance is in that zone; I can say that much.”
As I (and he) said, it isn’t for everyone.
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I should add that I brought up the Linn vs Sota analogy only to make my point about the significance of marketing. Linn chose to keep the model name and its appearance constant while gradually upgrading the innards (at considerable added cost). SOTA chose also to stick pretty close to the appearance of their original Sapphire while also upgrading the innards, also at increasing cost, but they also re-named each upgraded version which gave us the public the feel of a new product every 5-10 years.
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I've never owned an LP12 and I don't aspire to ever own one.
Why? I've had an aluminum sub-chassis Heybrook TT2 for the past 25 years.
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For me, not having heard a Cosmos but having owned a Star Sapphire Series III for 10 years, what most sets the Cosmos apart is the Eclipse drive system and possibly the magnetic bearing. But that’s 40 years of development. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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mijostyn
You could say the same for the LP12, but it’s problem is that it is based on a bad design and nothing anyone else can say is going to change that ... Frankly, nothing Linn makes is of interest to me.
You sure seem to be interested in the LP12. Rarely do you miss an opportunity to denigrate it, often in a lengthy tome. So I have to wonder: Who is it you’re trying to convince?
While the LP12 isn’t to my taste, I’ve heard recent versions of it. It’s a fantastic turntable. My preference for higher mass designs hardly makes the LP12 a "bad design."
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You guys can not get it though your heads that the LP 12 in it's current form is a BAD design. Forget about how it is made or the quality of the parts it is a bad design and just a glorified copy of the AR XA which was groundbreaking in the 60s.
@lewm , yes, the suspension morphology is the same as the Old Sapphire because unlike the LP12 it is the right design for a spring suspension. Both Avid, Basis and SME use basically similar setups. The look is also generic SOTA. Other than that it is a totally different turntable than the old Sapphire. Nothing else is remotely similar. You could say the same for the LP12, but it's problem is that it is based on a bad design and nothing anyone else can say is going to change that. The LP12 is an overpriced Toyota Corolla. The Thorens TD 1600 is every bit as good if not better and much less expensive. Frankly, nothing Linn makes is of interest to me. If they went out of business tomorrow I would not even notice.
@daveyf, do yourself a big favor and get yourself a decent turntable and you will never look back.
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Ivor Tiefenbrun was a genius marketeer who could sell ice to Eskimos!
@fatboyriding +1
Ivor also knew the original Swiss TD150 was a sweetheart along with Hamish Robertson of course!
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I understand why some people do not like the Linn they want to see lots of parts and wild design and "original" thinking and bold, decisive, distinctive executions using parts that are unique, unusual, and unexpected these kinds of people think they can judge a product by simple "examination" when they lack the technical skills, knowledge, and understanding to comprehend the folly of their assessment method which lacks discipline, confirmation, and rigor it is alwys this one guy whoo attacks Linn
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Marketing. If Linn had renamed their product with each upgrade, we’d be free of the inevitable comparisons between the original LP12 and the current variant, which although an upgraded variant, we’d now call an “LP20” or the like. Psychologically this might have been better for the Linn image. I liken it to Technics with the SL1200. They were foolish to re-use that name and to reproduce that appearance in the context of the current G/GR series tables, which are different and better in every way compared to the original SL1200 lineup. Many novice buyers cannot separate the old from the new in their thinking. Likewise too, the original SOTA Sapphire vs the Cosmos. The latter is really an upgraded Sapphire, a 40 year old design. But we discuss it as if the Cosmos was something new. Shakespeare had it right when he wrote”what’s in a name…?”
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LOL, this thread has a new life!
The usual suspect is naysaying again, and par for the course has his facts…wrong!!
In the latest Stereophile component ranks, on page 36, the Linn LP12 Klimax model is ranked in class A.
So, @mijostyn …what era of Stereophile are you reading, Lol.
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@ajhsu2 , No turning a sows ear into a silk purse. The current LP12 is just as antiquated as the one from decades ago. It does not even rate a class B in Stereophile terms. It's mystique was created in the mid 70s when (defective as it was) it was the best sounding turntable you could buy for reasonable money. I bought LP12 # 1 IN 1977 and held on to it for a year when frustrated with it's incompetent suspension I sold it for a Micro Seiki only to discover that I prefered the sound of the Linn so, in 1979 I bought LP12 # 2 and suffered with it for two years when I sold it for a SOTA Sapphire, a breath of fresh air to say the least. Not only did it sound better than the Linn but it was a delight to use and unlike the Linn nothing bothered it. Today there are several tables that surpass the LP12 in performance and are a better value, the Thorens TD 1600 to mention one.
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Lot of interesting and valid comments in this thread.
As the owner of a circa 1985 LP12 (Akito arm, dynavector DV-20x2 cart) as well as a 2013 40th Anniversary Klimax, I’d highlight a few points.
Choosing a high end TT (and all other gear) tends to be a personal decision, frequently biased by many years of experience. While presumably sonic performance rates near the top of the determining factors, in many cases it isn’t. A whole host of other considerations apply and for good reason. For many aesthetics weight heavily on choice, and the aesthetics run a wide range from minimal, to very large and heavy, conservative to wildly complex. Material choices run a similar span from wood to space-age exotic metals and composites. User friendliness is another factor. Some have relatively straight forward operation while others require expert tutorial. And for nearly everyone, price has some bearing including for those who want to spend more! Of course, there’s the whole other matter of what it’s connected to and all of the factors that went into the other component’s selection, many of which may bias the TT choice.
In this context, the LP12 is actually quite unusual having been in continuous production for 50 years. As others have noted, the early and current versions share essentially a name, as all of the main components have gone thru many changes and upgrades including the plinth. So it’s really invalid to compare LP12s from differing decades, never mind several decades. And for those who haven’t heard a relatively current and we’ll set up Klimax, your opinion while perhaps well intended is uninformed. The gap in performance on my two is simply night and day, and the early one is pretty good (until you hear the newer one).
For me, the appeal is that with the exception of very few high end TTs, the LP12 is a known entity. This means it’s operation is well understood, it’s easily serviceable, no shortage of set-up expertise, and despite what some have said, I set up my Klimax in one house, drove it to another 100 miles away and hooked it up and it’s played perfectly for 2 years (and counting).
Also important for me is that it’s not a physical commitment. Its relative modest size and weight make it “agreeable” in the room, as does its conservative/classic styling. On this point to each his own, but like it or not the LP12 is a TT icon.
As for performance, it makes me tap my foot which is ultimately what these things are meant to do. I remain stunned how much information it’s capable of extracting off the vinyl, and while by nature no component can be everyone’s favorite, the LP12 with its long history, upgradability, serviceability, reliability, sonic performance, build quality, and yes, in such cases where resale is not unimportant, that too. It’s a short list of high end TTs that have all of these attributes and brand awareness that makes ownership both accessible and to a large extent, recoverable (relatively speaking).
So yes, I am planning to get a current Klimax as the latest Ekstatik cart is yet another material improvement.
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ah…yes…TT Wars, 2022 edition…
Fact is, i have heard many magical immersive system / room combinations over 40 years of doing this to know there are at least 20 superb tables out there….including both Linn and SOTA.
Both have been significantly improved over the years. How wonderful it is for us music lovers that we have both ( and more ) to choose from.
I don’t typically learn much sorting thru ownership bias…
Jim
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@no_regrets As can be seen in this thread, member mijostyn has some very absolute thoughts about the Linn LP12. The ONLY thing that I think we can take away from all of his posts that are in fact 'Absolute' is the fact that he has a) never heard a current LP12, even from a decade ago, never mind current.2) Is besotted with his SOTA, which while not a bad table, has nowhere near the resolving power of a current LP12 and 3) has ABSOLUTELY no problem putting his uniformed 2 cents worth into another Linn thread...IMO...:0)
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@dogberry
I learned to avoid too much fancy suspension
When it comes to the main issue with the LP12, you've hit the nail on the head!
Why oh why did they chose to suspend the subchassis on a flimsy piece of polished aluminium?
To make matters even worse, a piece of aluminium only supported on 3 of its 4 sides!
Then to seal the deal, why not attach an MDF armboard to the subchassis with three meagre screws?
[Yes, I know the Keel fixes this, but at what cost? A mere £3000 if you're asking. Meanwhile it does nothing to address the 3 sided support issues].
Finally, for the cherry on top, why don't we use the tonearm cable to keep the notoriously wibbly wobbly subchassis aligned and free from drifting?
Genius.
Is not the word.
You can blame Linn or, if you like, Ariston. Although to be fair, the Ariston RD 11 Superior does away with the separate armboard of the standard RD11 and appears to show a closer resemblance to the AR turntable setup.
Either way, the LP12 illustrates a shockingly bad way to design a turntable suspension and as a consequence the LP12 gives suspended decks a very bad name indeed.
There are obviously far better suspended designs out there, the Alaphason Sonata to just name one.
https://loud-clear.co.uk/glasgow/shop/keel-lp12-subchassis/
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My father in law had an LP12, and an older Thorens. I got to use them between 1976 and 1985. He has classical LPs stashed away in every spare space in a large house, and quite a lot of reel-to-reel tapes, but despite all that he was quick to move to CD when it came out. I learned to avoid too much fancy suspension, which is why I now have two SME 10s. But he did introduce me to Quad, which stuck, and B&W active speakers, which did not.
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Pani, I hadn’t heard of the Ginga, so your comment led me to look it up. Its design concept channels Mikro Seiki, if MS had been allowed to evolve for a decade or two. The TTs you like by and large could not be more different from the LP12.
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@ghdprentice , While it is true that Sota had some production difficulties due to Covid and their revised Condor controller has a programing issue the Sota Sapphire still is significantly better than the LP12. If you go to the Nova with Vacuum you get a seriously better turntable. The Cosmos Vacuum is a turntable that is, from a performance perspective as good a any of the above turntables except the Dohmann (once it has a vacuum platter. Externally, it is a more rustic design which is easier and less expensive to make keeping the price down. I personally do not understand why people buy a turntable to look at. Inside that rustic interior is a very sophisticated design. I'm afraid you bought 50 year old mythology. If you get a Sota the LP12 will wind up on the used market in a week. I suggest either a Reed, Schroder, Kuzma or SME arm.😉
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LP12 is like a traditional tube EL34/Kt88 tube. Some dismiss it as old school while others consider it musically charming and relevant.
I have heard LP12 sound very ordinary and very awesome.
Many modern TTs have very low (CD like?) noise floor and expansive soundstage, pin point imaging and big dynamics. Thats their achievement which is to be applauded. But do they represent music the way it was intended by the musicians? A lot of them just fall flat on this ground alone. An AMG Viela V12 sounds dead boring🥱. A Dohmann Helix takes pride in its all out effort for isolation, but play some Michael Jackson on it and see if the "king of the pop" feels like he is taking hou back in time to groove again. Just doesn't happen! All the imaging and soundstaging specificity is there to wow the listener as long as that's what the recording is all about. A Kronos TT sounds like a CD with better dynamics. Dry harmonics and discrete flow. I can go on and on. I have heard a lot of these TTs and it is extremely disappointing what today's one man designer voiced equipments sound like.
Before some consider me as a LP12 fanboy, my favourite reference TTs are Kondo Ginga, Hartvig, SME 30/12, EMT 927, Micro Seiki 5000 and 8000 etc
If I list out all the modern TTs which suck at keeping the integrity of the music, the list will be very long.
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Doesn’t anyone own an Oracle anymore? The Townshend Audio Rock table has quite a dedicated cult following.
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The comment "It's suspension design is inherently unstable and if it is not on a supremely stable surface it will skip easily. Footfall issues are legion with this turntable. A little bump will cause a skip...."
The above statement can be said of virtually any table. It is accepted by most audiophiles that to get the best performance out of almost any turntable, no matter it's design (whether it's suspended or mass loaded, etc.) that you must use a proper base or stand under the table.
As shown in the photo below, I use a wall shelf that is attached to the studs of a load bearing wall for a proper support for my LP12. My wife and I can quite literally dance, jump up and down, etc right in front of the turntable and it will not skip a beat. It plays rock solid and completely undisturbed.
@photomax I agree with everything you have said in your post above. Very well said.
Best wishes to all,
Don
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@ghdprentice Thank you so much for your very kind words!
Best wishes,
Don
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Mijostyn himself highlights that history is littered with turntables of no significance. That is true. Many models have emerged, had a moment in the sun and faded away. This has been ongoing for decades. And yet the LP12 endures. For fifty years! The LP12 is the lightning rod for passion and debate. Most forum threads on this topic disolve into what we see here.
I don’t have a horse in this race. I have never owned an LP12. I do know solid audiophiles who love their LP12. These are smart people who earn good money. They can buy whatever they like and some of them continue to tinker with their LP12 tables. You can buy a top spec model new for like $30,000. Or you could buy a used model for $1500 and create your own upgrade path and budget and play. You can hire a professional to do this for you or you can do it all yourself. You might be a keen woodworker and build your own fancy custom plinth out of exotic woods or purchase one from several well known craftsmen who do this kind of work. There is a solid market for all kinds of LP12 stuff. Perhaps a wider market than any table ever made?
The point is the LP12 is a very successful product. It had fans in the 1970s and it has fans today.
That being said folks are perfectly welcome to prefer other options, upgrade paths and budgets. No problem. There are a zillion choices. But think of this: maybe the popular (audio forum) alternative that is popular today might just not be around in 15 years but the Linn LP12 might continue to endure and attract new fans?
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@mijostyn
Peoples values in sound vary considerably. It is appropriate you voice your opinion based on your experience. As we do with different experiences than you have had.
When I recently chose an LP12 over a Sota (which I really wanted to be my choice), VPI, Basis, Walker… a number of others it was based on a lot of research, listening (not all… I did not listen to Sota ). But recent professional reviews were that Sota had not kept up. … A good friend who loved them and had heard contemporary ones could not recommend them versus Linn, Basis and other contemporary tables. I had to listen to the overwhelming evidence.
I love the idea of owning a Sota… and I may buy one just for fun at some point. However, I can say with certainty the contemporary Linn LP12 is an exceptional table worthy of the cost. It’s performance is exceptional. There are many exceptional tables in it’s price range. One could be very happy with any one of them.
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@photomax, Sota, the first reasonably priced turntable that definitively out performed the LP 12 is still very much alive and making turntables that are better than the LP 12 and way more advanced in every way. History is littered mostly with Japanese low end turntables of no significance, changers and old idler wheel designs that also continue to be propped up in the used market like the LP 12.
The reason I am so harsh on the LP 12 is that there are many turntables on the market that are much easier to deal with and in the end out perform it. This is coming from a guy who only will buy suspended and isolated turntables, who will only use turntables with hinged dust covers and who has owned two of them in the past. It's suspension design is inherently unstable and if it is not on a supremely stable surface it will skip easily. Footfall issues are legion with this turntable. A little bump will cause a skip. It's chassis and plinth are designed to resonate.
I do not have any financial skin in this game. My only motive is to prevent people from making the mistake of buying an LP 12. Sota, SME, Basis, Avid and Dohmann make for superior turntables. I own a Sota Cosmos Vacuum. I would love to own a Dohmann but it is a little too pricey for my wallet. The Basis Inspiration is another favorite. The good old Sota Sapphire is in the same price range as the LP12 and there is no comparison.
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@slaw , good move. It was thoughtless and unnecessarily mean.
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@mijostyn It would seem, by your own admission, "....I have used them all and the LP 12 is an antique. Its days ended in 1980." .... that you are still stuck back in 1980 and that with all the improvements and developments that have been implemented over the last 42 years, you seem to refused to believe that the LP12 has advanced beyond that point of over 4 decades ago.
Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinions. However, I will put more weight on the opinions of those whom I have quoted in my last post who have actually not only listened to current model LP12's, but have also compared them head to head with well respected modern day alternatives (some of which were on your list, no less) as well as my own ears and judgement.
@slaw I, for one, can certainly believe that what your ears heard from your friend's updated LP12 was indeed impressive. I'm glad that you were able to listen with an open mind and without a biased judgement.
Best wishes to all,
Don
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@slaw, If that is impressive you have a lot of listening to do.
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@no_regrets , you have to be kidding me. I have used them all and the LP 12 is an antique. Its days ended in 1980. As a used turntable it is decent if the price is right. You might as well go out and buy an AR XA. That turntable is way more important from a historical perspective as it invented the genre. The LP 12 is nothing but a higher quality AR XA. It invented nothing.
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Finally had just a little time to listen to my friends LP12, recently back from a Tom O’Keefe installed bearing, new plinth and so on. Initial impression was it’s very impressive!
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@mijostyn you say "No amount of wishful thinking or modification is going to make the LP 12 representative of what a modern intermediate priced turntable can do. The Avid Acutus, SME, Sota and Basis turntables all are definitive improvements over the LP 12. The LP 12's day were done with the release of the original Sota Sapphire, never to return."
Clearly you didn't bother to read @pani post when he said on 6/26/22 "In a shootout at one of the London's audio store the fully kitted LP12 bested an Avid Acutus. Many listeners in the room preferred the LP12. So it is not an easy TT to dismiss even in the latest context" This was a direct shootout with the Avid Acutus that your have on you list.
You also must have missed the post of @krameshmurthy on 6/24/22 when he said.... "I had been using a SOTA Sapphire for many years but found a decently priced used LP12 (circa 1990) last year. As someone who likes to tinker, I took the time to upgrade the motor and control (dual speed) and tune the table. Once I properly installed my cartridge, I was extremely amazed at the how much better this table was than my SOTA- quieter background, phenomenal dynamic range and outstanding soundstage. I do see all the “naysayers” but in my system, the LP12 is staying. I like the fact that I can continue to upgrade it as time goes by. In fairness, I haven’t had any of the newer higher end turntables (don’t have any need at this point), but I wouldn’t dismiss the LP12." Yet again, another comparison to the SOTA Saphire which is also on your list.
You might have not noticed when @daveyf said on 6/24/22 "The current LP12 Klimax model had a good review recently by Herb Reichert in Stereophile. Herb compared it favorably to his Dr.Feickert and others and seemed to feel it was still at the upper echelon of performance!"
Clearly, for whatever reason, the LP12 has been a very polarizing table over the years. It would seem by simply viewing this thread alone, that there are just as many people who are enamored by the LP12 as there are that are not. Roughly 20 members for and 20 members against, with roughly 8 members that are neutral on the subject.
I have never said the Linn LP12 is the "end all / be all" turntable of all tables. However, I and many others do believe that it has come a long way from it's original inception...benefitting from advances in technologies over the years to the top plate, frame, sub-chassis, bearings, motor, power supplies, etc... (just as many other turntable manufacturers have benefitted as well over the years). I, and others, happen to believe the new LP12's can still compare very favorably with the other modern offerings of today.
Again, as I have said so many times... we are all blessed to have so many analog choices to choose from in this day and age, from tables/arms/cartridges/phonostages, etc. There are great offerings from many manufacturers at many different price points so that virtually anyone can enjoy their vinyl collections.
So, to the OP, what's important is to go out and listen to as many options as possible... but I urge you to do so with an open mind and without any pre-conceived notions, and simply let your ears decide what will work well for you and your system.
Best wishes to all,
Don
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For a while, me and my wife (the cyn in edcyn) had dueling systems with her's having a Linn and me having a SOTA. Frankly, I appreciated both. The Linn had better pitch stability and a punchier sense of drive. The SOTA gave better instrumental timbres and soundstage immersion.
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No amount of wishful thinking or modification is going to make the LP 12 representative of what a modern intermediate priced turntable can do. The Avid Acutus, SME, Sota and Basis turntables all are definitive improvements over the LP 12. The LP 12's day were done with the release of the original Sota Sapphire, never to return. This is not to say with careful use and setup a used LP 12 can not be made to perform at a reasonable level but to buy one new you have to be out of your mind. This is not IMHO, just a fact of life.
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@edcyn
Thank you so much! You are very kind ☺
Best wishes,
Don
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no_regrets
Love your cello! Love your set-up, too. Just like mine, if maybe a bit more "up-market."
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I don't see a....."pathetic sort of wood base stapled together at the corners" here with my LP12.
Nor do I see... "The tiny little dink of a motor that I can stall with a Q tip" here either!
The one on the left is my current swiss motor, the one on the right is from decades ago. Huge difference!
As has been said many times and again... the LP12 has been updated and improved from the decades of old and is quite capable of reproducing very beautiful and emotionally engaging music.
And as long as I have finally figured out how to post photos on this forum, here a few pic's of the rest of my system.
My Wavestream Kinetics Deluxe Reference Level 5.1 all tube phono stage with outboard power supply...
And a pic of the rest of this system that utilizes my LP12. But when I really want to "make" music... take note of my cello and one of my trombones in the corner.
Wishing you all the very best,
Don
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Sorry about the typos - old fingers, iPhone….
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This is another vote for the LP12 being a great turntable. There is much to
like about older models with a judiciously chosen upgrade or two, but the LP12s of 25+ years ago do not sound like those of today, so some perfectly good LP12s are fun but unashamedly imperfect, while others compete with high-end tables like those mentioned here.
I still have my LP12, though I have heard a lot of other good tables in the May 30 years-it is only one of many good choices whether spending £3K on a low-spec and/or very second hand version or spending £15K+ plus on an uber-table. The ISP is probably that you can incrementally (and almost invisibly)!turn one into the other.
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@daveyf
Thanks for your words of support. Linn can not be all things to all people, so I understand why people have other preferences. Please come visit if you are in the KC area.
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@in-tone For the denigrating folk who think they know what the new Linn LP12 looks like and sounds like, a visit to LinnKasa would be beneficial. I strongly suspect that these naysayers would have a change of heart, although I also seriously doubt we would hear about that on these forums!
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Great thread, love reading the different opinions and perceptions. The Linn Sondek LP12 has always stirred debate and some controversy.
With that said, if you are in the Kansas City area and want to listen to the latest Linn Sondek LP12 models and options, please schedule a time to visit us. We are thrilled to share our time with you and allow you to experience Linn for yourself.
www.LinnKasa.com
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@hipsterjefe So very true! And I'm sure your walnut plinth looks absolutely beautiful! I wish there was an easy way to post pictures on this forum (when it comes to computers I'm somewhat challenged, lol... I'd love to see your finished results 😁
Best wishes,
Don
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Let me chime in as a very happy Linn LP12 user. My "Pandemic Project" was building my own LP12 plinth out of walnut I seasoned for two years, and rebuilding my turntable with a combination of old/new parts. Since the LP12 is, as previously described, "deceptively simple" it takes just a modicum of DIY skills to assemble a LP12. Simple tools, a jig, the ability to follow instructions (thanks Cymbiosis and Basil Audio!), and patience are all that is needed. Therein lies the genius of the LP12 design--and evolution--over the past fifty years: the ability to create a quality turntable to your own unique desires and budget.
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OP.
Yes, you are correct... audiophiles can be very passionate about this hobby in many ways....
Vinyl vs Digital
Single bit vs Multibit vs NOS
Red book vs Hi-Res upsampling
CD vs Streaming
Belt drive vs Rim drive vs Direct drive
Spring loaded vs Mass loaded
Unipivot vs Gimbled
Pivoted vs Linear tracking
Tube vs Solid State
Single ended vs push pull vs Class A, A/B, D
Full Range vs Floor Standers vs Stand mounted
Dynamic vs Panar/Ribbon Speakers
Multi Driver vs Single Driver
Certainly there are a lot of topics that can be discussed and debated. We all have our own set of ears and we all hear things as we hear things. We all have certain aspects of sound reproduction that are important to us. Whether it is tone, pitch dynamics, soundstage, etc What is important to one, may or may not be important to another.
However, with all of the things that we have to discuss... I have rarely found a single product that has been as vocally polarizing as the Linn LP12. As of this post we are basically at 50/50 with 19 members showing appreciation for the LP12 and 20 members who feel that it has been left in the dust.
There are a lot of products that are highly touted and are popular. But all too often, in time, many fall out of favor for the next best flavor of the month. Not to mention, go out of business.
One thing I can say for sure is that my Linn LP12 has given me many years of musical enjoyment, has been able to continue to improve with various upgrades and has been in business for many decades.
Best wishes to all,
Don
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OP,
Honestly neither did I. I did a huge amount of research before swapping out my VPI turntable for a new Linn , and have listened to high end tables for years. If you read the professional reviews and listen to contemporary tables the Linn is near or at the top of most price categories in which they compete ($5K - $30K). They have been nearly forever.
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Well, I certainly didn’t expect to get the plethora of responses to my original post as I did. One thing I can say, audiophiles are extremely passionate about their hobby!
😎
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Unless I’m mistaken, Ivor Tiefenbaum designed the original LP12 to minimize relative movement between the stylus and the record’s surface. This required identical suspension loading and damping at each corner of the turntable’s platter suspension, a rigid connection between the platter and the arm board, and arm board suspensions which matched the loading and damping of the platter’s. The consequently precise setup procedure requires technical expertise and a model specific jig which are beyond the scope of most audiphiles’ capabilities.
I invested ~$7k in a vintage ’90s LP12 equipped with an Akita 3 Tonearm and a Linn Krystal MC cartridge--each designed to complement the ballistics of the other. And the sound quality of my set up is the best I could ever hope for, even compared to current LP playback systems that cost twice as much as mine did. That’s why I agree with a great many audiophiles and published critics that the Linn LP12’s design is timeless, not a relic of the past to be discounted as such.
FWIW, I wouldn’t hesitate to make the same (ahem) "mistake" again.
BTW: I’m one of those impractical hipsters who actually enjoys the multifaceted ritual of LP playback, notwithstanding the accurate reproduction of the ultrasonic emotional and sound staging cues I hear in live music of which only high-quality analogue systems are capable. But I’m just an old geezer who loves live music more than just about about anything.
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