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TAS review of Linn LP-12 Majik

I also looked at the similarly priced Technics, they were all great, but the LP12 stole my heart.

If I were going to buy a deck for looking at, the Sondek would definitely be high on my list, especially an old fluted one with a black skirt. My Sondek is definitely my prettiest deck. In the end, that's probably why I fell for it as a teenager, and it's probably why I still have it 40 years later.

onsondek4.jpg


Visually it's a design masterpiece. The problem with hifi is that you have to look at it. Looks matter. How much of the TAS article was devoted to how it looks?
 
Its a review by an American..they are mostly different to the rest of the world...like everything else in their lives they seem to think bigger is better and huge is bestest.

I don't know if folk on here looked through all the Editors choices that Daytona posted but take a look at the last on in the link I reposted and bear in mind that this is what they say about it...

Quote. " The Air Force Zero, a 700-pound+ beast devoted to spinning a vinyl platter as unobtrusively as possible, is an immensely impressive creation, a tribute to the ingenuity and seriousness of purpose... Quote.

Remember...unobtrusive is the key word and take a look.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/editors-choice-turntables-50000-and-up/
 
How many LP12 (Up to mid level) owners actually use Linn cartridges? There are so many options out there.

I use an Adikt on my mid LP12 since 2014; never tried other cartridges/arms, but now I’m open to own something different (tired of expensive upgrades addiction)

I booked a demo in May for a Xerxes 20 plus (XPS 8 / Nima / Corus 2).

We’ll see

BTW I like the LP12 both visually and musically
 
Just testing one against my Orbe at the moment. There’s not much in it. I’ll start a thread when I’ve swapped the Orbe back in.

What spec is Linn? Are you using the same cart and phono stage on both of them? It's going to be really interesting to read your thread once you start it.
 
Just testing one against my Orbe at the moment. There’s not much in it. I’ll start a thread when I’ve swapped the Orbe back in.

I couldn't get the "bounce" right on the Orbe - and the documentation in the "user manual" didn't give any details.
I sold it to a fellow PFM member and noted later that he had to replace one of the springs to get it working.

I had the Orbe from new and had it professionally installed in it's only resting place.
I later learned that it's setup correctly when the "bounce" is an up and down or pistonic movement.

The LP12 worked straight away even with the 50 mile drive to the shop.

In the end, it was actually my cartridge - Ortofon Cadenza Red - that I found to be the issue.
I replaced it with a traded in Krystal and it sounds good - but still not up to the quality of streaming media and at much higher cost.

It looks good though :)
 
What spec is Linn? Are you using the same cart and phono stage on both of them? It's going to be really interesting to read your thread once you start it.
Yes same arm (Funk FX3), cart (Art 9) and stage (Slee Accession). Spec is Karousel, Stack Alto subchassis and armboard, recently serviced Lingo 1. I guess not that surprising that it sounds more like the Orbe than not. Slightly pointless exercise in the end but I really wanted to hear an LP12 before settling! Jury’s out on which I’ll keep.
 
I agree that some people buy an LP12 because they just want an LP12 but that doesn't explain it. The truth is simple. The LP12 is a likable product.

I've heard a lot of different turntables, and yes some are better than the Linn in some ways, but nothing makes me want to stop using the LP12. When I was looking to buy an RP10, which was the top Rega at that time, my local Linn/Rega dealer said that when they demed the Linn and Rega people bought the Linn every time. And all of the guys in the shop, who could use whatever they wanted to and had lots of exposure to these decks, use an LP12.

As for this review? I means nothing. It doesn't matter what the product is you'll find someone who doesn't like it. Guy has an agenda, his sample isn't right, not used sympathetically or it just isn't his taste it doesn't matter. You need to stack one opinion against fifty years of success. The LP12 is a good product. Very good. It plays music very well, is reliable, serviceable, up-gradable and feels and looks like a high quality product. One person didn't like the one example of the deck that he tried, so what?

I'm increasingly of the view that he Rega Naia, no matter how good, will not make substantial inroads in the LP12 market. People will still prefer the sound, looks, tradition and upgradeability of the Linn. The only way they are going to do that is to make an P(L)12 with added warmth and boogie factor(whatever that is) with a 'proper' rectangular plinth with a nice wooden finish. Of course that will only happen over Roy Gandy's dead body - literally.
 
An LP12 can make a small percentage of records sound amazing....

It shouldn't be like that. The LP12 itself is very forgiving and should make all of your records sound playable at least. It's the tonearms. Use another arm, like a Rega or an Aro, and the fussiness goes away.

I'm increasingly of the view that he Rega Naia, no matter how good, will not make substantial inroads in the LP12 market.

We don't actually know how many LP12s Linn are selling these days? The LP12 and Rega turntables are so different that it's hard to compare them. They'll each appeal to different people and it's good that these options exist.
 
Its a review by an American..they are mostly different to the rest of the world...like everything else in their lives they seem to think bigger is better and huge is bestest.

This, in a discussion about a "flat earth" product, on a UK message board...

Hint: flat earth never caught on outside of UK and a few Crown colonies.

I think the word we're looking for is "insular".
 
Hint: flat earth never caught on outside of UK and a few Crown colonies.

Flat Earth is just a term used to describe a type of sound. The term might not be popular but to suggest than no one outside of the UK likes equipment that fits that description is ridiculous.
 
If I were going to buy a deck for looking at, the Sondek would definitely be high on my list, especially an old fluted one with a black skirt. My Sondek is definitely my prettiest deck. In the end, that's probably why I fell for it as a teenager, and it's probably why I still have it 40 years later.

onsondek4.jpg


Visually it's a design masterpiece. The problem with hifi is that you have to look at it. Looks matter. How much of the TAS article was devoted to how it looks?
By looked at, I mean investigated and auditioned. To listen to, it’s hard to pick between them, they all have different pros and cons but they’re all superb performers… even on the aesthetic front, I think they’re all great, the Technics is an iconic piece of industrial design, the Rega is ultra sleek, modern and premium without being in any way blingy, and the LP12 is again, iconic… I saw a fluted one in absolute outstanding condition, just like the one you posted, and I just bought it without even thinking twice, and then took it to the spec I wanted. It looks and sounds superb.
 
I use an Adikt on my mid LP12 since 2014; never tried other cartridges/arms, but now I’m open to own something different (tired of expensive upgrades addiction)

I booked a demo in May for a Xerxes 20 plus (XPS 8 / Nima / Corus 2).

We’ll see

BTW I like the LP12 both visually and musically
That’ll be a challenging choice, the Xerxes is a beautiful looking and sounding deck too.
 
I don't have a horse in this race, but that review seems weird and even amateurish to me. A better review would change the cartridge for another compatible one that the reviewer was familiar with to confirm findings. Especially when they're negative. A review should also precisely describe setting up of the cart, phono stage used and its settings.

I was thinking along these lines. I would have thought a hifi reviewer might have had access to an alternative cartridge, to test his theory that the problem lay there.

Kevin
 
This, in a discussion about a "flat earth" product, on a UK message board...

Hint: flat earth never caught on outside of UK and a few Crown colonies.

I think the word we're looking for is "insular".


My last LP12 ,when sold , was bought by a chap in Thailand .
 
If your going of looks then an Oracle Delphi vi in clear and silver is hard to beat .
Before I got into CDs, the Oracle was the deck I really lusted after, solely on the basis of its looks. It still looks far superior to the ‘unobtrusive’ monsters in the Absolute Sounds link up thread. I have been surprised at how few references there are to it on PFM, compared to LP12, Technics, Thorens, Garrard etc.
 
I have read through the review twice now and it reads as a criticism of the cartridge not the deck....all be it the cartridge is supplied with the deck.

Well, Linn's position is that it's the turntable that determines the sound quality, followed by the arm and, last of all, the cartridge. Yes......... I know.......

I'm an LP12 owner of over 40 years. It's a good turntable and I've amortized the cost over that time. I wouldn't buy one today, though.
 


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