Thoughts on the Linn LP12 turntable


I don’t see many discussions that include the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable and was wondering why? They’ve been around since the late 70’s and other then power supply and a few other minor changes (IMO) are relatively unchanged. I had one in the early 80’s and another in the late 90’s. They are somewhat finicky to get setup correct and once you do, they sound great. That being said I know there have been a lot better designs to come out since the LP12’s hey-day. Are they worth considering  anymore or has the LP12 just become another audio vintage collectors item?

markcooperstein

I should add (but its too late to edit!) that while Linn Comes out 3/3 in my above comparison, that dopes not make it anything less than musical. Set up is critical, as with any analog device. Its voicing is "polite" - somewhat soft. But always enjoyable. So i was saying really four things i my several posts above:

1, All the suspended, belt drive tables have merits

2. the Linn is far from alone - there are tons of them

3. Many of them are in fact better than the linn

4. Yet the Linn is still an excellent table, if set up right

Note that the span in construction (and price) of Linns is huge and of course, one can;t really separate the tab;e from the arm and cartridge when evaluating sonics.

Yet its clear that the trend is to servo-controlled Direct Drive and to MASSIVE but unsuspended tables. Mass = good.

G

@pindac , everything was same as far as I remember except, the Linn was paired with its own Urika phono and Avid was paired with Avid Pulsare 2 phono. Also the tonearms were both SME but Linn had its own Ekos SE tonearm made by SME and Avid had an SME V. Both TTs used stuff as recommended/matched by their manufacturers Or lets say as most people would use it.

The Lynn LP12 is flimsy cheaply implemented table that’s Rates as midfi gear. Compared to the class A standards is laughable. It’s no better than an old AR table.

 

@jew16384   LOL, you are so right--the nasty knock off Lynn is exactly as you describe!

Such a horrible overrated product!  Must be nice to still be the reference that others are compelled to compare to after many years.