Hello all. This is my first post on pfm, lurked many a time and found some great advice but somehow never signed up and joined in.
post edited again to add pictures back in
I ended up buying the vintage LP12 from
@dsavitsk as a Christmas treat for myself. I guess I should preface this post by admitting I am a card carrying tinker and not a purist. I have no qualms in modifying for practical reasons. Having read this thread for the first time, I think my approach may not be for all.
The table as it arrived :
Serial number is 002682 which I think dates this to about 1973.
I really had no intention of buying another deck, but have always had an irrational desire to own an LP12. I have previously owned ( and refurbished) a Klout - great amp but ultimately preferred inefficient Class A beasties. As an abstract link, my wife's uncle worked or Linn but had no interest in HiFi - he was amused by my enthusiasm when I discovered this nugget about him. On to the real intent of this post - the transformation of a classic into a killer turntable which sounds absolutely top class.
The table was a little worse for wear when it arrived. Still felt solid but the lower portion of the plinth (the painted black part) had separated and as I intended to do a complete refresh, I completely dismantled it.
Glued up the sections that had lost their glue , added braces at the base of the corners - both for added stability and because I wanted to add more robust feet. Sanded it all down and then ... horrors, stained it a dark espresso ( I had considered doing it black but the wood grain would have been completely hidden and I wanted to retain some of that character )
I had expected a 1973 LP12 with little or no changes but made a few interesting discoveries in the tear down
- although this is an early series Table , it is a bit like "Trigger's broom"
The sub chassis was replaced around 1992 and the bearing likely around the same time - just pre-cirkus (black ring and liner). The arm-board had also replaced from original ply to the MDF laminate of the later series. (not the 4 layer thinner laminate but the (thin-mdf-thin version)
I bought new springs and ordered oil for the bearing. The belt looked decent and being in the US, it is less easy to find the original parts, so I kept that for the time being. I made up a phono cable with a veborg din plug I bought off ebay and cut up an RCA interconnect I had that was not being used.
I knew the power supply options had to be improved from plugging the motor directly into the wall and that left only an external supply or an integrated one. I had ideally wanted an integrated psu as I didn't want more clutter.
I was fortunate enough to get a Zeus aftermarket power supply. The power supply was initially developed by Steve Cobham on DIYA and called the Zeus power supply - it generates a clean wave form at both 60 and 81 Hz but has PID feedback from the sensor to accurately control the TT platter speed. I managed to snag the last assembled and tested kit available. It is really well done, it comes with a new printed switch that controls the unit , printed enclosure for the sensor which tucks in under the platter and a sensor display holder that I ended up attaching to the front of the plinth.
I drilled mounting holes for the Zeus and hooked it all up
After testing and some basic programming of the EEPROM to ensure correct speed and feedback control
I set the rest of the table up (something I could not have done without the superb guides from Peter Swain - thank you)
This is the final effort before I set up the cartridge
It took me a good 90 minutes to set up my cart ( an AQ404B - made for Audio Quest by Scan-Tech who also made the early Linn Arkiv cartridges and later became Lyra ). The Roksan Tabriz Zi is a finicky arm that required a lot of miniscule changes to get it all set up perfectly - tracking force, alignment, azimuth and VTA but luckily this is not my first TT and I had the ability to tweak it all into place. Oddly it didn't accept my normal cartridge screws, so I used what I had in my kit - looks a little obnoxious but perfectly functional. The arm lift was a relatively easy fix - it had been pushed beyond it's normal arc at some point, and opening it up and setting the little rocker correctly sorted it all out. I am not crazy about the dragging weight as it drags against the arm board when you lift the needle, but it works beautifully and sounds great.
It has all been thoroughly worth it.
Ricky Lee had never sounded so good
, The LP12 lived up to everything that I had elevated it to be. I may have destroyed the collectability of this particular LP12 but it will be treasured and loved for many years to come. Thanks for entrusting me with this treasure
@dsavitsk
..dB
images added back in