TAS review of Linn LP-12 Majik
- Thread starter chris geary
- Start date
linnfomaniac83
I bet you can’t wheelie a unicycle!
They’ve never been overly secretive about who produces their cartridges, they have never made them in house… they have never called their cartridges modified or rebadged though… despite quite a few being just that.
IIRC, Linn have had cartridges made by Supex, AT, Goldring, Lyra and EMT.
They never publicise it either. But it's not that which bothers me. It's the very high profit they're adding over the cost of the Goldring or Audio Technica vertions of these carts.
linnfomaniac83
I bet you can’t wheelie a unicycle!
Indeed… I’ll never buy another Linn cartridge. Last one I had was an Akiva, it was very nice, but it was also very expensive… I replaced it with an Ortofon Cadenza Blue which was at the time about £1000 cheaper, and I found the Cadenza to be quite substantially better.
daytona600
Registered User
Shocking Danish company with over 100years experience could make a better MC than a company that has never made one in 50years
Paul Hindle
Do you mock me?
These days I am very wary of the importance of the cartridge. Thinking among manufacturers has veered away from arm/cartridge very noticeably to PSU and sub-chassis over the last many years. I even have a budget cartridge on my other TT that sounds superb within the context of that system. I do believe in a certain level of matching depending on downstream transparency but I for one won’t be spending much on cartridges in future. Besides, I stream more these days and doubt my current cartridge will ever reach the number of hours it’s rated for. 
Joe
pfm Member
These days I am very wary of the importance of the cartridge. Thinking among manufacturers has veered away from arm/cartridge very noticeably to PSU and sub-chassis over the last many years.
Is that not because they can make power supplies and sub-chassis but they can't make cartridges ? ...they can keep claiming that their latest is so much better than their previous and thus keep the money mill churning for them selves.
Paul Hindle
Do you mock me?
Joe
pfm Member
I don’t own a Linn cartridge. I presume Linn is the “They” you refer to. In answer to your question I’m scratching my head bit because I can’t think of a single business that doesn’t aspire to being a “money mill”. So I guess the answer is probably no.
You posited the thought that manufacturers had shifted their thinking away from cartridges as the most important item to PSU's and sub-chassis.
No mention of Linn by you or by me.
You considered that this was a decision by them based upon a new thinking about hifi hierarchy . I consider it a new thinking about where they can make the most money as no manufacturers that I know make their own cartridges.
I made no judgement call as to whether that was right or wrong in a financial sense.
Paul Hindle
Do you mock me?
Ok fair enough. The answer is still no. They have all just discovered over the years that what they understood to be the most important thing wasn’t actually. I was looking at a customers TT which my dealer had just upgraded to Radikal / Keel and queried why it still had an Adikt installed. His answer was that the customer felt that after demos of various cartridges he didn’t feel they gave enough uplift for the money. I pointed out that in the past that many that many dealers felt the arm/cartridge combo was the most important bit. His answer was “Didn’t we all?”.
Joe
pfm Member
I bought my first LP12 in 1976. At that time Linn didn't make arms or cartridges.They just made the turntable which had a rudimentary internal power supply .
Making just that item they had to justify it above other offerings in the market place...otherwise why would anyone buy it ?
They came up with the marketing mantra of " source first". ...what else could they say ?
Later they started having arms made for them in Japan...they still didn't make any cartridges. ( still don't to this day )
They later started on the cycle of upgrade power supplies they also started on the cycle of upgraded sub-platters.
I imagine they still think "source first"...as long as it's their source that you buy.
Personally..I don't know where I stand on hifi hierarchy . Maybe it all has to be as good as can be ?
My system still to this day relies on a Linn pre-amp and a Linn CD player....never found better for the money.
Making just that item they had to justify it above other offerings in the market place...otherwise why would anyone buy it ?
They came up with the marketing mantra of " source first". ...what else could they say ?
Later they started having arms made for them in Japan...they still didn't make any cartridges. ( still don't to this day )
They later started on the cycle of upgrade power supplies they also started on the cycle of upgraded sub-platters.
I imagine they still think "source first"...as long as it's their source that you buy.
Personally..I don't know where I stand on hifi hierarchy . Maybe it all has to be as good as can be ?
My system still to this day relies on a Linn pre-amp and a Linn CD player....never found better for the money.
I agree with that. Also, the cart is a wear item so over the long run expensive. Investing in the deck or arm can give you a better result and costs less.
Tony L
Administrator
I thought they were AT based? I’m pretty sure the MM models are, at least as far as the generator.
From what I can tell, Clearaudio MM carts are AT95e with most of the stylus body cut off. I assume they glue the stylus in or something.
Tony L
Administrator
Yes, that is my impression too based on pics. Seems crazy to my mind to take a perfectly functional design, remove all stylus protection by sticking the cantilever way out the front, and then ensure it can’t be replaced!
If they didn't do that it would be too obvious what it is.