I had a nicely set up LP12 and it sounded great, but I hit a point of either further obligation to Linn for upgrades and maintenance mor change. I decided to trade off on a Rega RP10. I do miss the musical pacing of the LP12, in my opinion it would become high maintenance and the trade off of, in my opinion, the freedom I felt I gained, the Rega has been a good transitional table for me. The timbre and pacing are very similar. But if you haven't been listening to vinyl for a while, you may not notice the differences in sounds of other tables by comparison.
if you have a dealer that knows how to tune an LP12 properly, it would be a lesser investment to start with. Then you have a way to see if you really want to get emerced in vinyl. I think you will. If you do want it tuned properly contact Rick at audioalternative.com and get an estimate. You can ship it him and he ships it back set up as good as it can be tuned.
This is tough decision if planning to spend 3-4K as that buys a nice table, but it also buys a good tune up, nice cartridge and maybe a good used phono stage if you need one.
My final thought is have the table assessed by some one who knows them. After 17 years of sitting idle a lot of parts have dried and lost resilience and it may take a rebuild besides a tune up.
Good luck
if you have a dealer that knows how to tune an LP12 properly, it would be a lesser investment to start with. Then you have a way to see if you really want to get emerced in vinyl. I think you will. If you do want it tuned properly contact Rick at audioalternative.com and get an estimate. You can ship it him and he ships it back set up as good as it can be tuned.
This is tough decision if planning to spend 3-4K as that buys a nice table, but it also buys a good tune up, nice cartridge and maybe a good used phono stage if you need one.
My final thought is have the table assessed by some one who knows them. After 17 years of sitting idle a lot of parts have dried and lost resilience and it may take a rebuild besides a tune up.
Good luck