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Linn LP12s – Fire away!

NickofWimbledon said:
However, given how often other threads get interrupted by someone 'explaining' that all LP12s are dreadful and only bought because we get fooled or as furniture,
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These someone’s do it because it then get a kick out of bating others. It’s the Wild West in here. Thankfully, the only ones fooled are the ones who believe them. Ironically, being believed is not the reaction they want. :). I think most of us LP12 owners have a filter and don’t rise to it. We are quite nice bunch really. My chief weapons when required are sarcasm and wit! That really gets up their noses.
 
I come from the other direction - after hearing several Naim/LP12 systems in my youth I was unimpressed with both. I bought my 77 LP12 in 2008 for €300 from memory, intending to flog it on for vast profit. Unfortunately I serviced it first and listened to it. - even with an LVV arm (once the damned bearings were adjusted!) and dl110 it had something my Naim CDI did not - not the same resolution or frequency extension, but music was very listenable.

Early prototype Sole subchassis, Mission 774 arm, Asaka cartridge and DIY geddon and it’s been in my system since. The CDI with mods has now over taken it ultimately, but it still depends on the mastering as much as the format - I have CDs and vinyl copies of many albums and can tip the balance either way depending on mastering.

I’ve actually not listened to vinyl for over a year I think - bit of a shame as I’ve got LP12 (x2 currently), an early L70 and a super quiet TD124 in my collection. Really need to commission the TD124, compare them all and at least cut the collection down to one!
 
foxwelljsly said:
Well, it beats banging two empty halves of coconuts together.
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Most of the time.

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Talking of the the old dear & the Karousel it has just occurred to me today after fitting my Karousel there is no mention of how tight the oil bearing thrust pad cap should be. Anyone any idea?
 
Oh God No! Here's to another 3 decades of discussion on the absolute correct torque for the bearing cap. I think Linn (may?) have made a boo boo on the thread direction though?
 
What are you after? Before I purchased a 2nd hand LP12, I had a number of turntables which just did not sound good but incrementally got better. Obviously I had heard turntables at dealers/shows that made me realise better vinyl sound was possible. But my 1st LP12 purchase was the turntable that made me realise I had achieved what I needed at home. That was back in the early 90s when an LP12/Naim fanatic helped me in this purchase. Pre Cirkus, Ittok arm, K9 cartridge, Valhalla. Since then, other than cartridge, the only changes I have made was to remove the baseboard (cleans the bass), and add a 33/45 speed change option in the shape of a Manticore 5i electronic speed changer (and that was years ago), just because the Valhalla didn't do 45. I have never ever felt the need to make any other 'improvements' or 'upgrades', unlike digital sound, where I have constantly tried different transport/DAC combinations (but eventually always come back to a 1990s combination - but that's a different story ) . If you want an LP12, there is probably no right/wrong combination. Base it on what you want to spend but more importantly what you want to hear. Try and stay with Linn 'upgrades' if you want a typical Linn sound. That may sound obvious but I personally think some 3rd party upgrades alter that.
 
tricky1 said:
What are you after? Before I purchased a 2nd hand LP12, I had a number of turntables which just did not sound good but incrementally got better. Obviously I had heard turntables at dealers/shows that made me realise better vinyl sound was possible. But my 1st LP12 purchase was the turntable that made me realise I had achieved what I needed at home. That was back in the early 90s when an LP12/Naim fanatic helped me in this purchase. Pre Cirkus, Ittok arm, K9 cartridge, Valhalla. Since then, other than cartridge, the only changes I have made was to remove the baseboard (cleans the bass), and add a 33/45 speed change option in the shape of a Manticore 5i electronic speed changer (and that was years ago), just because the Valhalla didn't do 45. I have never ever felt the need to make any other 'improvements' or 'upgrades', unlike digital sound, where I have constantly tried different transport/DAC combinations (but eventually always come back to a 1990s combination - but that's a different story ) . If you want an LP12, there is probably no right/wrong combination. Base it on what you want to spend but more importantly what you want to hear. Try and stay with Linn 'upgrades' if you want a typical Linn sound. That may sound obvious but I personally think some 3rd party upgrades alter that.
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That all look great is very sensible, but I could quibble (not disagree) with the very last bit. Some 3rd party upgrades are good but a bit different, some are not that good, and some work well and are very much in keeping with the previous version.

Mind you, few successful 3rd party options change the sound signature as much as the Cirkus or Core did.
 
chartz said:
Never had an LP12 (I’m French :p) but reading all the stuff about it actually makes me want one – not the one with the basic Pro-Ject tonearm please.
I actually use a Valhalla TD160, a B790 and various Technics decks, plus a few Beograms (including the Crown Jewel 4000).
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Don’t waste your money! You’ve got a BG4000; Why downgrade?!
 
per-Sony-fied said:
I have had my LP12 since the late 80's if I remember correctly. It was not my first TT but may well be my last simply because changing it for something else could well cost me dearly.
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Same with me. I didn't compare it every rival at the time I bought it (it was impossible), but as a local dealer sold it, so be it. 35 years on I'm bloody happy I didn't go for PT, Xerxes, Void, Systemdeck or even Goldmund(!), as they have all stopped trading since (or?). There might very well be a number of better sounding decks out there, but you can't have everything.
 
The LP12 shouldn't work. Most of the metal bits ring, the arm-board is attached with three minuscule screws a toddler could pull out and the motor and platter are free to float around relative to each other on soft springs. From an engineering perspective the latter is idiotic and the rest of the deck is not hugely better. A wooden box with not a lot inside, perceived as the pinnacle of quality largely because Linn told you it was.

Yet here we are? Fifty years later not only is it still talked about and in demand, it is still in production and still looks almost exactly the same as it did when it was launched. A testament to..what exactly? Human gullibility? The power of nostalgia? I don't think so.

The LP12 works and is loved because it delivers what you actually need rather than what you think you want. It gives long term musical satisfaction and insight rather than perfect technical statistics. It's a music lover's record player that encourages and rewards listening.

Do better turntables exist? I'm sure they do but that's not the point. A steak dinner doesn't nullify the fulfillment you got the week before from a simple sandwich when you hadn't eaten all day. Sufficiency is a quality itself and the Linn can be all the turntable you ever need.

Can be as there are almost innumerable variables. The used market is a minefield and new ones are expensive. So there isn't a clear answer as to whether or not it is still good. It depends. It might be or it might not be. A bit like asking which car you should buy when nobody knows your budget or why you want one.
 
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RJohan said:
Same with me. I didn't compare it every rival at the time I bought it (it was impossible), but as a local dealer sold it, so be it. 35 years on I'm bloody happy I didn't go for PT, Xerxes, Void, Systemdeck or even Goldmund(!), as they have all stopped trading since (or?). There might very well be a number of better sounding decks out there, but you can't have everything.
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That good oll PT! That takes me back too. I heard a Linn Akito on a LPT1? & a Sondek at a dealers & I kept scratching my head as to why it sounded better on the Pink. Just seemed so strange that a manufacturers arm should sound better on some other manufacturers deck. Of course all is clear today it's because the LPT1 was a better deck :eek:
 
RJohan said:
Same with me. I didn't compare it every rival at the time I bought it (it was impossible), but as a local dealer sold it, so be it. 35 years on I'm bloody happy I didn't go for PT, Xerxes, Void, Systemdeck or even Goldmund(!), as they have all stopped trading since (or?). There might very well be a number of better sounding decks out there, but you can't have everything.
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I think that Roksan, maker of the Xerxes, is now part of Monitor Audio, though I may be out of date. Otherwise, this looks hard to argue with.
 
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