advertisement


Linn LP12 vs Digital

sonddek said:
The first time I really listened to a 1200 critically it had an RB300 on it. I soon switched in my Ekos 2/Arkiv Boron. It was thrilling. There is something about the way some decks can maintain the pitch of sustained notes as they build or recede which lends great poignancy to music of all kinds - everything falls into place. It was a revelation for me after several decades without that pitch stability and metronomic timing. I even began to enjoy Ultravox, if you can believe it! I know. I think maintaining rotational speed very accurately is really important to the intelligibility and emotional effect of tunes. Maybe we each have a different threshold for pitch stability.
Click to expand...

Pitch stability is the main criticism I would level at the Sondek. I've had mine since '84 and the plinth and lid are probably the only original parts left. I bought mine to replace a Thorens TD160s/Mayware Formula 4/Dynavector (10x?) which was a decent deck and sounded about as good as the PT I wanted, the Linn was far better IMO. I avoided cd for years as I'd heard them demmed vs a PT (via Meridian kit) and they sounded awful. Each time I heard cds again only reinforced that apart from thru a pals MF Synthesis which lasted 3 months before self immolating. When I did eventually find a cd player that was ok in my system I found I enjoyed piano music more than via the LP12, I play piano and could identify the instability that spoilt the Linn's performance. Generally I still prefer the Linn for most music although mastering and pressing quality are important. I'm wondering if the Radikal 2 will solve the instability. LOL more money on the fruit box.
 
S-Man said:
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.
Click to expand...

The RD80 was hopelessly cost-cut compared to an LP12, chipboard plinth, horrible resonant pressed steel base etc. I bought one new as I couldn’t afford an LP12 and the build quality was decidedly lacking compared to the preceding Lenco. The Linn LVV arm it came with was really crap, that was a bloody awful thing with rattly bearings and incorrect azimuth.
 
Enfield boy said:
Pitch stability is the main criticism I would level at the Sondek.
Click to expand...

I agree but how badly an individual LP12 suffers can vary a lot. My last deck was a Rega RP10 which had dramatically better speed stability than my last LP12. I expected to be bothered by the pitch on my new LP12 but I'm not, it's really pretty good. Why? Mainly I think because the set-up is better.
 
Salamander said:
Would you please verify which Technics 1200 deck you are talking about
Click to expand...

A mark 5. I don't think the various versions sound very different from each other, except perhaps for minor details like arm wiring. I base that view on having listened occasionally to marks 2 through 7. My mark 5 has a Timestep external power supply, which I don't think sounds greatly different from just putting the stock power supply into an external box, a modification which I have applied several times. I also have a Mike New bearing, and again, I don't think it makes a vast difference - the stock deck is pretty good. As I've said, I think decoupling the rubber base can help alleviate a certain deadness, and I do think there is mileage in upgrading to a better arm, but don't take my word for it - it's easy to try all this because used 1200s are abundant and cheap as chips, and resale value will recover your outlay.
 
david ellwood said:
Any Linnyishness will definitely be taking a back seat in the face of a geddon and Aro.
Click to expand...

I swapped in a Radikal for the 'Geddon in my Aro/Keel setup (primarily to play 45s!) and found the Radikal to resolve quite a bit more detail, but I can't say that I felt like the fundamental character of the deck had changed. Blame the Aro, perhaps?

To chime in on a couple other topics, do tonearms count in the "all Linn or not a Sondek" debate? Linn make armboards and subchassis for lots of different arms; accordingly, one would think that a deck with a Rega arm but otherwise all-Linn parts still counts as an LP12.

For our OP @Radiohead99, I agree with others that changing your cartridge and if necessary your phono stage will get you where you want to go. I can heartily recommend a Dynavector 20x2L and the Dynavector P75 phono stage set to "Dr. T mode", as well as the Arkless phono stages.
 
sonddek said:
A mark 5. I don't think the various versions sound very different from each other, except perhaps for minor details like arm wiring. I base that view on having listened occasionally to marks 2 through 7. My mark 5 has a Timestep external power supply, which I don't think sounds greatly different from just putting the stock power supply into an external box, a modification which I have applied several times. I also have a Mike New bearing, and again, I don't think it makes a vast difference - the stock deck is pretty good. As I've said, I think decoupling the rubber base can help alleviate a certain deadness, and I do think there is mileage in upgrading to a better arm, but don't take my word for it - it's easy to try all this because used 1200s are abundant and cheap as chips, and resale value will recover your outlay.
Click to expand...

Thanks, wasn't too sure if you were talking about the newer version :)
 
Del monaco said:
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.
Click to expand...

Maybe just unlucky Del :rolleyes:
 
It ultimately depends when you buy the car, if new & you keep for 3 years then there is unlikely to be any problems. My wife has had a few niggles with some of the tech in her Golf GTi but nothing mechanical. She does about 6k a year though.
 
James said:
I don't think Linn ever made black ash fluted plinths. Are you sure yours isn't an afromosia or walnut painted black?
Click to expand...
Good question. I bought it nearly forty years ago, and the actual wood was never mentioned. I asked for black on my wife's insistence, and black fluted was what I got.
 
James said:
I don't think Linn ever made black ash fluted plinths.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly sure they did. You got fluted versions of all the finishes, and there weren't that many. Originally you only got Afro, Walnut, Black Ash and Rosewood which cost so much extra that few people bought it. You even got a fluted Rosewood one though, which must've been scary to make considering how fechin hard that wood is.
 
Mr Pig said:
I'm fairly sure they did. You got fluted versions of all the finishes, and there weren't that many. Originally you only got Afro, Walnut, Black Ash and Rosewood which cost so much extra that few people bought it. You even got a fluted Rosewood one though, which must've been scary to make considering how fechin hard that wood is.
Click to expand...
Cutting flutes is easy with a milling machine, no matter how hard the wood is. When I bought my LP12 in 1987, I was told flutes were available only with Afro or Walnut. Rosewood and Black Ash are plain. Maybe that's what the NZ market got at the time.
 
James said:
When I bought my LP12 in 1987, I was told flutes were available only with Afro or Walnut. Rosewood and Black Ash are plain. Maybe that's what the NZ market got at the time.
Click to expand...

I don't know but the NZ plinths may have been made locally? I've seen both black and Rosewood plinths with flutes. I've seen one fluted piano black plinth but I don't know the story behind it. This was before aftermarket plinths were available but it may have been a painted Linn plinth, I don't know.
 
Black and Rosewood were definitely not fluted when I was selling them back in 85-87 in the North American market.
 
Mr Pig said:
I don't know but the NZ plinths may have been made locally? I've seen both black and Rosewood plinths with flutes.
Click to expand...
My LP12 plinth was definitely made in Scotland. The only black fluted LP12 I have seen was a "dealer special", whereupon - at the customer's insistence, no doubt - an Afro plinth was spray painted black. It looked sh!t.
 
You got black and rosewood fluted plinths here in the UK/Scotland because I've seen them.

It would be interesting to know how many different plinth variations and suppliers Linn have used over the years. My current plinth is a 2018 fluted walnut which is so wide it barely fits in the jig. By contrast a 1982 plinth here until last night was about 4mm smaller. They've also lowered the top-plate supports slightly at some point as well as more obvious changes like the corner braces and cable clamp for both the power and arm leads.

Sorry, I'm looking at getting plinths made and this stuff is relevant right now ;0)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top