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Renovate an old Linn Axis?

V

vinyl_paul

pfm Member
Hi everyone,
I have just picked up an old Linn Axis from a friend. Its been in the garage for many many years.
It has the Linn Basik Plus arm.
The cartridge is bright orange with the Linn symbol on it - a Linn K9?
Serial number of deck is 006641

Is it worth me renovating and giving it a go, or is it likely to be too expensive for too little quality?
My current deck is an RP3 with RB303 so if this has no chance of being comparable I might as well save the effort.

Or should I renovate and try with a newer (better?) arm?

Anyone with experience like to advise?
Ta
Paul
 
It won’t better what you have but is worth fettling and selling on for a nice profit.
 
I'd say go for it and if you don't think it's better than the RP3 (it will be........) they go for good money.
Just check it turns on and spins the pulley at both speeds, the electrics are known to be dodgy.
 
Thanks everyone.

a) Anyone think its worth trying with a better arm? I guess a better Linn arm would be easiest?
b) Recommendations for new stylus if I stay with Basik Plus arm?
c) Finally, recommended site/person for Linn spares generally, like oil and belt?

A nice winter project I think :)
 
Some pictures to show the before. Not a lot too them is there!!!

IMG_2978.jpg

IMG_2972.jpg
IMG_2977.jpg
 
Well, when you say ‘not a lot to them’ I’m not sure about that. After all, they have a sophisticated motor control unit (more sophisticated than the Valhalla; the same circuit was developed into the Lingo) and a suspension, of sorts (this same idea was developed into the Trampolin). Yours looks basically in need of a good clean. The power supply board was the weak link and tended to go wrong, or randomly start in the wrong direction.
 
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There's a damn sight more in that than most LP12s! As Ynwoan says, an 80s LP12 with Valhalla is much simpler. A pre-Valhalla simpler again, the original 1970s PSU, later sold as the "Basik" has only a couple of capacitors and 2 resistors, iirc. It all lives on a small strip of tagboard.

I'm not convinced an Axis is better than an RP3. I'd take a Thorens 150 over either. Try both and see, one thing that is clear is that an Axis is always worth selling.
 
I am quite looking forward to trying it now.
I hope this isn't the start of getting hooked on classic TTs and tinkering/upgrading

Oil and belt ordered. Any recommendations for cartridge? I don't know anything of the history on the one fitted so I don't trust it.
 
stevec67 said:
There's a damn sight more in that than most LP12s! As Ynwoan says, an 80s LP12 with Valhalla is much simpler. A pre-Valhalla simpler again, the original 1970s PSU, later sold as the "Basik" has only a couple of capacitors and 2 resistors, iirc. It all lives on a small strip of tagboard.

I'm not convinced an Axis is better than an RP3. I'd take a Thorens 150 over either. Try both and see, one thing that is clear is that an Axis is always worth selling.
Click to expand...

Agreed TD150 would best an Axis and deffo an RP3.
 
vinyl_paul said:
Oh dear. Looks like I might need to try a TD150 next then :)
...and have you seen the price of those secondhand??
Click to expand...
For donkey's years they were £80-100, up until a couple of years ago. I always found them grossly undervalued, along with the TD160S. I had a 160 with a SME 3009 on it, struggled like hell to sell it on here. I think eventually I got £300 for the pair, about 2011 or so.
 
A Linn dealer demonstrated an Axis with Ittok, vs a LP12 with the Basic Plus, and the Axis Ittok was notably better. They were later 'discouraged' from fitting Ittoks to Axis, as it didn't fit with the marketing or philosophy. He reckoned the Axis was 'accidentally' way better than Linn intended it to be. I set one up for a neighbour many years ago, and straight from the box with a pretty cheap cartridge it was really nice to listen to, and made me wonder quite what I had got from spending maybe five times as much on my LP12 setup.
So, if you feel you are going to use the axis long term, investing in a better Linn arm may be a good move.
 
@stevec67 : There are a few TD-150s on ebay at not *too* silly prices to be fair. One has a SME 3009 fitted. TD150 mkI vs mkII? Other TD to consider in the mix? Any killer issues to look for *if* I got interested?

@JemHayward : I think I will try and get a better Linn arm for this experiment. Part of the fun is playing with these things isn't it? I might struggle with the prices of Linn arms though!!!
 
YNWOAN said:
Yes, indeed. I also suspect Linn found it quite a bit more expensive to manufacture than intended too.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't mind betting that it cost a very similar amount to produce as an LP12.

vinyl_paul said:
@stevec67 : There are a few TD-150s on ebay at not *too* silly prices to be fair. One has a SME 3009 fitted. TD150 mkI vs mkII? Other TD to consider in the mix? Any killer issues to look for *if* I got interested?
Click to expand...
As per the PMs, all are good. The Mk 2 150 has the better arm IMO. I think that that's the principal difference between the Mk1 and Mk 2. One with a 3009 is a great deck. I've had one with a Mayware Mk4, that was very nice indeed. I paid £30 for it in about 1996! The 160s are good, the only one to avoid is the 165 which was a cheaper version with a plastic subchassis. I had one of those, it was at best OK. The TD166 marks the start of a new range, these were different to the old 125-126-150-160 series and nowhere near as good. The only one that has never been through my hands is a TD147. I'd like one, if only for curiosity value.
 
A good part of the cost difference will be in the platter, the Axis having a much lighter pure aluminium one.

If was upping the arm I'd look for an Akito.

PSU issues usually just caps needing replacement.

When testing PSU you need to have platter connected.
 
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