Where in the US to send my Linn Sondek LP12.
I thought I read somewhere that the best Linn Sondek LP12 turntable specialist was in Colorado somewhere. My nearest Linn dealer is in Ann Arbor Michigan. I live in SW Ohio. My query is - would it be better for me to personally drop off my turntable to Overture Audio in Ann Arbor or would it be a better plan to pay the shipping to this Linn dealer in Colorado.
I'm leaning toward driving up I-75 to Ann Arbor and hand deliver my vintage LP12 with Ittok arm and K9 cartridge for a consultation on a power supply upgrade that I can afford. I have heard that the Lingo 4 is a meaningful upgrade. I'm not really wanting to play that crazy upgrade path game that Linn does where they steer you into an endless escalation of tweaks and upgrades.
But if anybody can vouch for a good Linn turntable tuner who is honest and who will work with an ordinary customer of limited means, I would be most appreciative.
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- 24 posts total
@daveyf I went last month and had an appointment with Thomas OK and did just that. I had more of a major overhaul of my LP12. I got the Karousel bearing, a new thinner felt mat, had the Karousel bearing installed on a Greenstreet Audio keel copy sub base that I had purchased in advance. I also changed out the Valhalla power supply and standard motor from the early 80's for a Radikal (Akurate level). I also changed out my Linn K9 cartridge for a Linn Adikt MM cartridge to work with my Bryston BP2-MM phono stage. I also got the Trampolin footer kit at the same time as well. I spent approximately 5 hours at Overture Audio and Thomas worked through a checklist very methodically. It was really great to see the care that he takes setting up this gear. I had brought a thicker stainless steel top plate that I had purchased from eBay, a "Vinyl Passion Orpheus" that he tried briefly but the stainless plate was slightly too large for the plinth. I got to see how the original top plate is curved and how it flattens out as it is installed. I also had purchased a new tonearm cable, also from eBay (both of these were British products BTW), a "pure silver tonearm cable" which he installed. |
@sktn77a - sorry for a 2 year delay but I think I can describe the LP12 update now that I have been living with it. Short answer is that “it is really great and I love it!” I had a hum issue where the Bryston BP-2 MM had this scary low frequency hum that would vary in intensity. Turns out that Bryston had provided an umbilical power cable that was designed for their newer 1/3 chassis power supply. I needed the umbilical that was more of a “Y” umbilical that tapped into my Bryston BP-26 preamps power supply umbilical. It hummed for a second when first turned on then became silent. As for the sound of the turntable it has just made music listening this fun discovery process. With the ability to play audiophile 45 double albums and reissues and remixes of classic albums it is really detailed and also textured in 3 dimensional space that fills my large living room when played back through my full size Thiel CS3.6 speakers. The gain on the Bryston phono stage is like 41 db and I have to turn the volume up more in comparison to my digital sources but the level of quietness is really good so that is not that big of any issue. One of these days I will open up the phono stage top plate and re-set the capacitance for the tonearm cable and Linn Adikt cartridge. I’m not sure what this will do to the SQ but I plan to play around with it to see. The SQ now is super clear top to bottom, the bottom frequencies I’d like to be a tad thicker to anchor the sound more. Since I got the Karousel bearing, the Green Street Audio sub platter, the Akurate Radical power supply and the Adikt cartridge all simultaneously I cannot speak to which upgrade accounted for which sonic improvement. But I know for a fact that this Linn LP-12 turntable is the most musical and most enjoyable it has ever been. |
- 24 posts total