Linn LP12 vs Digital

[James]

As @Tony L has said above, and in my opinion as I have said it in other threads on this subject, a Linn LP12 is not a Linn unless you use Linn parts to upgrade.

By that definition, there won't be a lot of proper Linn LP12s out there. Mine ceased being one when I attached Naim 'Geddon and ARO to it.

 

[david ellwood]

Any Linnyishness will definitely be taking a back seat in the face of a geddon and Aro.

Given your speakers are also antiLinn I doubt you’d notice.

 

[Mr Pig]

Given that one of the criticisms I read of a modern LP12 is that it doesn't sound like an LP12 used to and sounds more CD like or some similar kind of statements it might be difficult to determine exactly what that "Linn sound" is because it must be a moving goalpost.

Yip, I totally agree. My point though is that maybe Linn have not released a metal plinth because Linn do not feel it sounds the way they think an LP12 should. What you, I or anyone else thinks of it is irrelevant.

OK so give me a clue - which bit of the current LP12 is cheap???

Not that much I grant you but a belt guide is only about £12. The spring and grommet kit is still cheap. A platter is £200 which seems quite reasonable all things considered?

And then you have the 'you've got to be +@*&+@# kidding me' parts at the other end of the spectrum. Almost £400 for the Magic PSU, a couple of capacitors and a metal cover. £150 for a lid which is essentially the same as the lid Rega charge £50 for.

 

[S-Man]

Any Linnyishness will definitely be taking a back seat in the face of a geddon and Aro.

Given your speakers are also antiLinn I doubt you’d notice.

Yeah, if you want to listen to Tracy Chapman's Fast Car and not much else you need a lot of Linnishnessyness

 

[david ellwood]

Pretty sure Tracy Chapman is in there somewhere!

 

[Thorn]

Black Ash apparently sounds best. Maybe it is the lack of fluting ...

I've got black ash with fluting, the best of both worlds.

 

[John]

Pretty sure Tracy Chapman is in there somewhere!

Not an idea place for a record rack.

 

[david ellwood]

Not an idea place for a record rack.

I agree but I’ve not got a very big house so needs must. I’ll aim to get a bigger room for the record player when I move house.

youll see from my profile picture that the speaker isn’t quite as hampered as it looks.

 

[Big Tabs]

Heybrook and Logic did it way back in the ‘80s! It would be very interesting to compare the TT2 and DM-101 to a more recent Linn as whilst the Linn’s warmth and bounce was really valued back then I suspect it has moved rather closer to these two decks sonically since.

I would be interested to listen to my Heybrook TT2 against an old or newer LP12. I don’t think it would ever happen, and too many variables unless it had the same arm etc. (and the same room)

My TT2 has the cast aluminium chassis (years before the Keel)

Also an acrylic armboard and bottom board and a Heed/Inspire offboard PSU.
(Origin Live Onyx tonearm with wire upgrade and 2m Black. - Inspire Acrimat)

I reckon it sounds okay.

I certainly cannot associate the cliched negative terms applied to the sound of an LP12 to the TT2

 

[John]

I would be interested to listen to my Heybrook TT2 against an old or newer LP12. I don’t think it would ever happen, and too many variables unless it had the same arm etc. (and the same room)

My TT2 has the cast aluminium chassis (years before the Keel)

Also an acrylic armboard and bottom board and a Heed/Inspire offboard PSU.
(Origin Live Onyx tonearm with wire upgrade and 2m Black. - Inspire Acrimat)

I reckon it sounds okay.

I certainly cannot associate the cliched negative terms applied to the sound of an LP12 to the TT2

I have heard a Heybrook TT2 vs LP12 Valhalla with same arm and cartridge on each and the Linn was significantly better. This was back in 1986.

 

[guydarryl]

Pretty sure Tracy Chapman is in there somewhere!

Have you seen the asking price for that Blur album recently

I'm a bit upset - near mint copy, but I have lost the PVC "Blur" outer

 

[david ellwood]

Have you seen the asking price for that Blur album recently

I'm a bit upset - near mint copy, but I have lost the PVC "Blur" outer

I continued to buy new vinyl throughout the 90’s and 00’s , quite a lot of it is worth silly money, until it gets repressed like the PJ Harvey stuff. Even the first Spice Girls album is valuable!

 

[Salamander]

There’s sometimes a presumption that if a TT is 6 x more expensive than £1000 turntable then it most be at least 6 x better. Not really the case. They charge that amount because they know some people will pay. They pay for the pride of ownership, the legacy and because it’s a fine turntable. I used an Audi analogy recently. A ‘prestige’ car with average reliability and questionable engineering costs a small fortune to buy and maintain. You are buying into years of clever marketing. The marketing puts it on a pinnacle but the reality is different.It’s just a decent car that can be bettered in many areas by cheaper alternatives.
This is why I look to second hand, vintage and good buys. The Maggies are proof that even today, you can buy into the ‘higher end’ for entry level money.And they are not the only goodies. Look at the Regas etc, and how they challenge the elder statesmen.
I fell for marketIng bull in the past. I’m now wise to it.

I don't know where this questionable engineering comes from regarding Audi cars, test drove models from Mercedes, Ford, Mazda, Volkswagon and Renault before purchasing the Audi. Now if you had said that about the LP12 I would have understood.

 

[Del monaco]

The first one we had, the valve broke and landed in the engine and killed it. They paid compensation. The second Audi we had and oil pump fault killed the turbo etc.Honest John predicts this failure in many models. Reliability index has underlined this. Will never have one again.

 

[Big Tabs]

I have heard a Heybrook TT2 vs LP12 Valhalla with same arm and cartridge on each and the Linn was significantly better. This was back in 1986.

I am not convinced.
Maybe you were having an ‘off’ day.

When the C-19 climate improves then I will invite local fishes over to kick my HiFi tyres and tell me where the sound quality is less than positive.

 

[John]

I am not convinced.
Maybe you were having an ‘off’ day.

When the C-19 climate improves then I will invite local fishes over to kick my HiFi tyres and tell me where the sound quality is less than positive.

Whatever, we were a Heybrook dealer at the time so this wasn’t an “off” day. It was compared regularly against the LP12 at the time.

 

[Mr Pig]

I don't know where this questionable engineering comes from regarding Audi cars..

The reliability of VW group cars is not that great, down about average probably. Certainly nothing special. And before you say 'Yeah, but Audi are better than VW, Skoda etc' they all share the same mechanicals. Engines, gearboxes etc. All the bits that define the reliability are the same across all four brands. So 60% of an Audi A3 is the same as a Seat Leon.

 

[S-Man]

I would be interested to listen to my Heybrook TT2 against an old or newer LP12. I don’t think it would ever happen, and too many variables unless it had the same arm etc. (and the same room)

My TT2 has the cast aluminium chassis (years before the Keel)

Also an acrylic armboard and bottom board and a Heed/Inspire offboard PSU.
(Origin Live Onyx tonearm with wire upgrade and 2m Black. - Inspire Acrimat)

I reckon it sounds okay.

I certainly cannot associate the cliched negative terms applied to the sound of an LP12 to the TT2

Don't know about the TT2 but when I compared my Ariston RD80 to a friend's LP12 back in the early 80's I had a lot of difficulty accepting the reality that the Sondek was massively better. On the face of it the Ariston looked better designed and built.

 

[Big Tabs]

Whatever, we were a Heybrook dealer at the time so this wasn’t an “off” day. It was compared regularly against the LP12 at the time.

Out of interest - can you recall if it was the crossbar chassis or the cast alloy chassis one?

I would still like to hear them compared.

 

[Mr Pig]

Don't know about the TT2 but when I compared my Ariston RD80 to a friend's LP12 back in the early 80's I had a lot of difficulty accepting the reality that the Sondek was massively better.

I think the original LP12 design was as much luck as understanding but I have no doubt at all that Linn knew what they were doing and Ariston did not. Linn made the LP12 better and Ariston released a procession of turntables with each making less sense than the one before it. The RD11 and RD11s are good decks, they basically sound the same as an early LP12, but after that forget it.