Linn LP-12 still competitive with the very best?

Personally, I could never get past the looks of the Linn. It just isn't sexy looking to me. To hear that they are in the $10k range now is amazing to me. I could never bring myself to spend that on a Linn. I'm all about sound but looks count too in that price range.
My audiophile buddies and I had Sotas and VPI. In the mid-90's we definately liked the sound of our Sotas better than the Linn. But others loyally defended their Linns'. They always talk about how their Linn has so much better rythm and pace than the Sota. I have never heard that difference and to this day do not understand that comment. If the table wow and flutter is below measurable limits- how does it sound different?
I still prefer the suspended table (Sota) sound over the fixed mass (VPI) myself. My VPI buddy like his TT but would admit the Sota sounded good to him too.
It comes down to what each of us likes and how willing we are to part with our hard earned cash for something intangible to normal, everyday people.

The difference between suspended and non-suspended seems to me like it would be a huge point of difference, but I don't hear people talking about it that much. Do most of you clearly favor one approach over the other?

Well, I just spent the last 8 hours spending time in a jazz club in San Fransico, then over to Symphony Hall in Chicago, to another jazz club in New York, another symphony in Boston, then over to London, then Venice, and back over to Copenhagen for some more jazz. Literally around the world in just over 8 hours time thanks to my Linn LP12, Naim ARO, Wood bodied Benz, and Pink Link DC Battery Power Supply.

Is it competitive or better than the modern super tables of today? I don't know. What I do know is that during this last 8 strait hours of listening, I didn't once think about what a new table would sound like. I was immersed in the music, the tone and timbre of the instruments, and felt like I was in the concert halls of the symphonies being played and that many times the likes of Ben Webster, Clark Terry, or Dizzy or Ray Brown and countless other jazz greats were in my listening room performing just for me!

So, those are the good points about the Linn. The cons are that either you need to learn how to set up the Linn correctly (which isn't hard, it just takes patience and gets easier with practice) or you need to know someone that can do it for you. I don't mind doing it. It's part of the hobby, the nostalgia of playing vinyl, if you will. Also, it is a misnomer that you constantly have to keep fiddling with the deck. That is simply untrue, unless you keep moving it from house to house.

I think that there are probably a great number of decks out there that can make music. You simply have to go out and listen to as many as you can and then one will "strike a chord" with you and then you'll know.

Great post No_regrets!!!

Yeah! 60ies Jazz is the genre, that the LP12 works best with, indeed.

best regards, Hartmut