So...
Ordered an LP12 chassis last night to build up a new deck. Give the old fruit box another go. Current spec except for a Cirkus bearing and I'll need a motor/PSU and subchassis/armboard to complete it. Plus an arm of course. Currently planning on keeping the RB2000 for it, maybe.
So, what's the skinny on subchassis'? So many options. Cirkus, Majik or one of the many aftermarket ones. The Stack Audio ones seem good value but what do these different kites sound like?
Quite fancy the Lingo 4 but it's not cheap. Is it worth it?
Important thing is that I want to retain the full, airy sound that made the LP12 so nice in the first place. If I wanted a super-clean record player I'd keep the RP10. Alive, fun, engaging are words I like.
Any experience or advice welcome? :0)
I think I replied to a similar post last year, you might do a search...
I have owned an LP12 since 1985. From 1990 to about 2017, it was regular/original subchassis plus addition (in 90) of Lingo I and Cirkus bearing. It was a nice warm sound, undoubtedly toe-tappy, coloured yes, due to that mid-bass bloat, but a sound I had grown used to. For reasons now unfathomable, I wanted to 'upgrade' and brought in a new Kore, followed by new L4. A used Ekos II went in too, alongside a new Krystal. Of course that's a lot of changes, but somewhere in the transition I had lost that warm, bloated sound for a more clinical, perhaps more 'correct' sound that was not really to my taste. My suspicion is that it's the Kore, with its integrated arm board. I still have the original, and may swap it back in. That task is alas hampered by dismantling/extracting the L4 in the process.
And as for the L4, let me warn you, it is a right pain to actually use! Don't laugh, how can something with ONE button be hard to use? Well, the L1 I had for 25 yrs was press to play 33, press again for off. Long press from off for 45. The L4 is completely different, at least mine is. Short press for 33, but 4-5 second press+hold for off. An L1-style second press goes to 45. I simply hate it. You could PLAY a Napalm Death ep in the time it takes for the L4 to turn off!
I am also now a year into owning an SME30/2. And as of late, I am back to the LP12.