Have you tried the Abbey Road 1/2 speed master?
Didn't know there was one. I think I have for copies including the original from 79 or whenever it was.
Have you tried the Abbey Road 1/2 speed master?
The SQ was great before recent attempts to improve it (i.e. L4, Karousel, radial for mains, WH cables, the SRM kit and support experiments in the last year) and fractionally better now. The olives give me plenty of foot-tapping boogie (more so than the 282/SCDR/300 I first heard powering my B&W 804D3s) and Joan Baez, Nina Simone, Beth Gibbons and Maria Callas all sound better than I have heard them before - but I would have said all that with last year's version. Since then I have improved detail (less mush), stereo image, top-end sibilance and tight grip on bass (Bela Fleck's Cosmic Hippos, Lazy from Made in Japan or the organ on Bach's Toccata), but I didn't know that those areas would benefit from these improvements until afterwards.
My rack is a visual joy IMHO and I am pretty confident (after various trials) that in my room and on my floor 2 Fraims would cope less well (and wouldn't fit in the same space). That limits space until my 2-box CDS2 finally dies or I give up on owning a Nakamichi cassette deck (great nerd points and works beautifully but gets used about once every 5 years). Once those boxes are gone, I'll add a Core NAS (like the one I have for the Tasmanian cottage) or a decent CD transport (into the NDX2).
That would leave me space to swap 1 X 250 for 2 X 135s or 1 X 500. I assumed that the 500 was a silly idea until I saw one go for c.£5,500 on eBay (it had a scratch!), but it still probably a lot more than I need. Could I get recently serviced 135s for less than £3,000 or so? They seem unsurprisingly rare on eBay. How would you describe the benefit on a system like ours?
Putting budget tyres (not that I would really describe the 250 such) on a Porsche is fine but you will get more out of it with premium ones.
Had you thought about an arm upgrade?
There were several decent lifters for Aro over the years, Naim Aromatic, and Tiger Paw did one. Interesting you mention a uni pivot, I am sure Richard is alluding to a SUPATRAC, and why not? A uni pivot without the downsides makes a lot of sense. If I wasn't wedded to my Aro for sentimental reasons, I would get myself a listen to a SUPATRAC. I daren't as I don't want to swap out my Aro.I'd need some convincing that spending enough to beat the old Ekos materially was a better use of cash than a better cartridge than another Krystal or a better top-plate (f they are better) or a better sub-chassis than Kore (ditto).
I believe that the Ekos SE is better, but is it better by over £3,500? I remember dealers demonstrating that K18 MM + Ekos beat Arkiva in an Akito, but always assumed that said quite a lot about the Akito (and a little about the phono-cards they used for the dem). Was that wrong?
FWIW, I struggled and largely failed to hear the benefit of Ekos 2 over Ekos 1 (perhaps I deafer than most), so I didn't buy one.The lack of a decent lift-lower stopped me joining the Aro-chasers many years ago.
Best source for 135s is dealers.
I believe that the Ekos SE is better, but is it better by over £3,500?
A little more Devil's Advocate:
Why does the LP12 have a -sprung- "suspension"?
I'd say if one doesn't need a TT suspension to quell vibrations coming up from the floor then, Why? ...Did Linn ever make claims that their sprung suspension design did more for the Tune with, than without?
Me deck is currently on a lightweight & rigid Archidee type stand placed on a solid cement poured foundation floor, I'd say that I personally don't need the added complexities and ultimate potential limitations of a spring/suspended deck and I don't live next to a commercial Interstate expressway. Even when my LP12 was upstairs on a slightly bouncy but hardwood floor I'm still not sure I needed a sprung deck, and up there I had it on a Target wall shelf anyway, vibrations -in any of my environments- were never really an issue for me except for those rare times when people were moving quickly through the house with heavy footfalls, but to be honest I heard those vibrations thru the system anyway, sprung or unsprung, wall shelf or not..
I don’t believe your premise that the only point of a suspension on a LP12 is to quell vibrations from the floor. Did you ever ask that question to a Linn representative while selling their product?
Thanks for posting that tpetsch - first time I recall seeing a photo of the LP12 in its original form.And this direct from Linn for "dealers" back in the day sure didn't mention pretty much Anything about the sprung "suspension", notice the 10 words under the heading "Chassis". Lets just keep that part a mystery, shall we. This is the difference between a "review/hype sheet" meant for the customer/end user, and the fact sheet the dealer gets.
Linn now have 006 at the factory that's been fitted to a plinth at some point. It has two green on / off buttons that stand quite proud of the top plate. I recall 008 sold on ebay about 15 years ago and that had the single red button shown above. Interesting how things evolved during that early period.Yes, of course, we/I did speak with Alex M. about many this years ago among many other things.
Linn now have 006 at the factory that's been fitted to a plinth at some point. It has two green on / off buttons that stand quite proud of the top plate. I recall 008 sold on ebay about 15 years ago and that had the single red button shown above.
Maybe just 7 if 8 was a red button, assuming it wasn't changed later? I heard 1-3 were in LP12 heaven so maybe just 4!I sold a two-button LP12 last year. It never occurred to me to even look at the serial number, I wish I had. It belonged to a friend who bought it off someone who worked for Linn. I'd never seen one before, didn't know they existed. Wonder how many are out there.
Yes, of course, we/I did speak with Alex M. about many this years ago among many other things. What do you 'Specifically" know about it? -And remember, the sprung suspension wasn't Linns idea, it was "Borrowed" from a well over 50 years old concept.
And this direct from Linn for "dealers" back in the day which -as you can clearly see- sure didn't mention pretty much Anything about the sprung "suspension", notice the 10 words under the heading "Chassis". Lets just keep that part a mystery, shall we?! This was the difference between a "review/hype sheet" from the Marketing Dept. meant for the customer/end user, and the "fact sheet" the dealer gets.
I don't know. I bought a 250 from a very well known London Naim dealer. They had sold it new and just taken it in as a trade in. The price was high but they assured me it had been checked out and hey, buying from a dealer is best, right?
After a few months it started making crackling noises. It had done this from the start but only when I switched it on. As I kept it on all the time I didn't think much of it. When I got it checked out by a more local Naim dealer I was informed that it needed serviced/recapped.
I contacted the selling dealer and told them I wasn't very happy. They'd sold me a ten year old amp which needed serviced for close to the price it cost new. They didn't want to know. As they were at the other end of the country there wasn't much I could do about it. Just took the hit and got it serviced myself.
It's a box. Condition and price are everything.
Maybe just 7 if 8 was a red button, assuming it wasn't changed later? I heard 1-3 were in LP12 heaven so maybe just 4!
Pointless. The upgrade potential is too limitedSomeone should start a thread called "Naim 135s - fire away!"