My heartfelt advice to you is DO NOT part with your Linn! There are several excellent turntables mentioned on this thread that I could certainly live with, but transitioning to one of them would cut into buying new records.
Cons: Linn's gotten a little inflated opinion of themselves, and factory upgrades are very expensive. New ones are not the great value they used to be. You can get a lot more for less money than you used to (but it's not a Linn Sondek).
Pros: This is the Porsche 911 of turntables--it's a classic, maybe not for everyone, but if you like it, there are plenty of parts available, plenty of people who know how to work on it, and lots of aftermarket parts to tweak it to your ears' desire. You can easily work on it yourself--I have for years--thanks to loads of information online and plenty of people to ask. Some of the mods/upgrades offer 80% of Linn factory performance for 20% the price (Mose/Hercules and GreenStreet, for ex.).
I'm the second owner of a 1976 Linn Sondek that I've upgraded ever since I bought it (in '81). It's my most prized possession, and thanks to inflation and currency exchange, it's still worth a little more than I paid for it. When you've got a turntable this caliber, it's no longer a matter of "bigger better faster," it's just different. There's a "character" to the Linn's sound that reminds me of listening to live music--concert halls, bars and living rooms--but not studio playback. Not for everyone, but it looks like a turntable, works like a turntable (not a test bench) and keeps me playing records till 3AM, even after thirty five years--and that's really what it's all about.
Cons: Linn's gotten a little inflated opinion of themselves, and factory upgrades are very expensive. New ones are not the great value they used to be. You can get a lot more for less money than you used to (but it's not a Linn Sondek).
Pros: This is the Porsche 911 of turntables--it's a classic, maybe not for everyone, but if you like it, there are plenty of parts available, plenty of people who know how to work on it, and lots of aftermarket parts to tweak it to your ears' desire. You can easily work on it yourself--I have for years--thanks to loads of information online and plenty of people to ask. Some of the mods/upgrades offer 80% of Linn factory performance for 20% the price (Mose/Hercules and GreenStreet, for ex.).
I'm the second owner of a 1976 Linn Sondek that I've upgraded ever since I bought it (in '81). It's my most prized possession, and thanks to inflation and currency exchange, it's still worth a little more than I paid for it. When you've got a turntable this caliber, it's no longer a matter of "bigger better faster," it's just different. There's a "character" to the Linn's sound that reminds me of listening to live music--concert halls, bars and living rooms--but not studio playback. Not for everyone, but it looks like a turntable, works like a turntable (not a test bench) and keeps me playing records till 3AM, even after thirty five years--and that's really what it's all about.