Thoughts on the Linn LP12 turntable

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.