The linn LP12 and associated gear really extract the most minute detail from the record groove. If I had this turntable in the 1980's I would not have stopped buying lp's.

none

I decided to upgrade my turntable. After buying over 2,000 compact discs and spending over 4,000 hours listening to them I decided to dust off my old turntable. It was a Thorens 320 which I purchased back in 1986. The turntable was semi retired in the late 1980's. I was tired of the hassle of playing a record with its pops and clicks. Compact discs were easy to store and were not prone to the pops and clicks an lp had. In addition, you did not have to handle a compact disc with white gloves. However, as time wore on I decided to crank up the old turntable. I realized that I was missing information on compact discs that lp's seemed to have. I started to add to my record collection in the late 1990's. A little over a two years ago I noticed that there was an LP12 with all the upgrades, naim aro tonearm and van den hul grasshopper II cartridge posted on ebay for $2,200. What a steal! This is by far the best turntable I ever heard.

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Thorens 320 Dual Garrard

Things have changed since my review of March 3 2002. 1) I fitted an AT OC9 cartridge 2) I bought an SACD player. Conclusions: 1) SACD confirms that CDs were missing information that LPs had all along 2) A new and better cartridge has given a glimpse of what can still be had from vinyl. 3) I still don't enjoy the dynamics of digital with my set up.

Unfussy with any sort of music; sounds like I'm there at the performance!

Has to be professionally set up at least every 3 years or immediately after any house move - unnecessarily costly and annoying.

My first of 3 LP12's came at the same time as my move to moving-coil cartridges. Prior to that I was a Thorens TD125 /SME3009/ ShureV15III sort of person. My original LP12 had a superb George Hadcock Unipivot arm and an Ortofon MC15. I hated the bang the crude on/off switch made, but the Valhalla upgrade killed that. A burglar relieved me of that, and my insurers helped me to get a new Valhallaed LP12 with Ittok VII and Asak. Nirvana, without the upgrade! And since then I've auditioned each upgrade, but the only one worth spending cash on is the Cirkus bearing/spring setup and the Klyde cartridge. I have no 45's so I only need 33rpm. And the Klyde is quite a lot cleaner and truer than the superb Asak. The Ittok is a great arm, and really not worth replacing unless you have won the Lotto or have inherited an obscene sum from a mystery uncle.

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Thorens 125/SME3009/ShureV15III ; Roksan Xerxes/Dynavector/Koetsu.; new AD 2003 Linn LP12 with all the "upgrades"

Good rhythmic drive, good information retrieval as long as no mid-bass is being reproduced at the same time. Good reputation to impress friends.

Bloated mid-bass, imposes its own signature strongly on the music. Other turntables from Michell, Roksan, Transrotor, Clearaudio, Kuzma, VPI, Basis etc. that can destroy this table...especially for the price of a full blown LP12 Lingo,etc. etc.). Lives on nostalgia

This is a product of Myth and legend and as such has a following to match. Unfortunately like most myths and legends only has a grain of truth. Yes, it kept the LP alive and yes at the time it was a good player at a good price. This was in 1980!! Is this a neutral turntable?? Not at all. Is it pleasant to listen to? Sure as long as your music doesn't have too much mid-bass which this makes all woolly sounding. Sure it follows the British "follow the tune" philosophy perfectly but sacrificing accuracy in the process. It is true what many have written that it imposes its own character strongly on all music. Now some people love this...great for them. But in the pursuit of the ultimate reproducer of what was RECORDED it was left in the dust years ago. A year ago when I was shopping for a turntable (my first in over 10 years of only cd), I tried many turntables starting with the Linn because of reputation. I came away wondering why everyone thought turntables were better than cds as this one was very colored (it was even using an Ekos arm and Arkiv II cartridge...very expensive). Then I heard a used Pink Triangle Taratella II and thought "ok, now we are getting somewhere". Finally, I heard a Michell Gyrodec SE II (DC motor) with cheap MM cartridge (Roksan Corus Black) and a Rega RB300 arm playing Friday Night in San Francisco and was sold. I haven't looked back. The Gyrodec was smooth, rhythmic, neutral and detailed. Do yourself a favor buy a Gyrodec instead (almost the same retail price as the LP12) it looks better, plays better, and is built better. Best of all it doesn't need 20 upgrades to sound great

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Michell, Roksan, Pro-ject, Kuzma, VPI, Clearaudio, Transrotor.

Musicality. Sounds "right" in many ways.

Coloration. Doesn't really hit you until you live with a player like the Pink. After that, there is no going back to coloration.

If you are happy with your Sondek, don't listen to a Pink Triangle!! Its been many years since I owned an LP12 , but obviously I bought it because it was good. I remember once when Linn's founder, Ivor T., walked into a crowded Japanese showroom and confidently played the LP12 vs a more expensive Oracle Delphi. Many of us could tell from just the first few notes of music that the Linn sounded more right (as Ivor said, it didn't matter whether the Linn was optimally set-up, or where you were standing in the room). I could have been happy forever with my LP12, and I was quite a Linn fan, until I auditioned a Pink Triangle. I sold my LP12-Ittok-Asak for a Pink-Rega RB300-Garrot Decca and listened to the best music of my life. Problem with the Pink was mechanical failures, no servicing in Japan (which meant I have not listened to the Pink for many years), and I heard that the company is no more. The uncolored, neutral sound had me hooked and I have been searching for this sound ever since (get something like it on some good CD players, and am hoping that I will find something close in Nottingham, Well Tempered, Wilson Benesch or Amazon (Voyd was promising but like Pink they are no longer in business). This master-tape sound must have been possible for the acrylic platter, inverted saphire-bearing and super light and rigid honey-comb subchasis. So if you have a Linn and have never heard a Pink, or are buying a Linn now, I am sure you can be quite happy (although the prices seem quite steep compared to the eighties and vs, competition). I notice that the harshest reviewers of Linn in these pages have owned a Pink (and supports my point that Pink is so much better), while those who have owned other respected quality makes like Oracle, Nottingham and Well Tempered can prefer the Linn (which supports the fact that Linn makes good music if you can stand coloration).

The looks,bass,midrange is awsome,sweet highs.its the best period...

dont make me laugh..

I cant believe some of these reviews about the lp-12. First of all,the linn sondek is by far the best table you can buy for the money, and I WILL tell you why.you use different arms on it,use different power supplies,plus other excesseries. theres no reason why you guys are giving this table such poor reviews. UNLESS everything else in your system sucks..NOW boys and girls let me tell you what to do . put the turntable on a wall shelf,that will prevent foot vibration, then take of that old fascian mat and get a ringmat,trust me you wont believe the difference.then when you can afford it buy a Benz micro h2 or lyra hellican. then lastly a GRAHAM 2.0 arm or an ARO.Now the most important thing you will need..TUBE GEAR BABY..enjoy the jazz...

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sme-20,planar 9 w/h2

Strong bass.

Mid range colouration. Poor build quality.

Equipment used for the review were: Linn: Akiva, Ekos, LP12, Lingo, Linto, Quad: 34, 707, ESL63s. The Linn equipment was bought new for 6,275 GBP. The Akiva delivers a very hard muscular sound. When listening to rock or jazz music, the effect is very dynamic and involving. Problems set in when the recording has a large mid-range component, such as forward vocals, the well-reported mid-range bloom becomes a distracting honk. The colouration produced by the cartridge/arm/turntable arrangement is such that differences between recordings are masked, everything comes out hard and aggressive. Even relatively gentle classical music (say, RVW Oboe Concerto) becomes aggressive, the deeper stringed instruments come in with a jazz-club style punch. You don't hear the performance or its subtleties, all you hear is Linn. It is said that the Akiv, and by inference the Akiva, extracts a large amount of information from the groove, this may well be the case but if so, the colouration obscures all this additional information. So bad is the mid-range bloom that while playing a recording of the "Ode to Joy", I had the impression that I was listening to the music using a cheap pair of loudspeaker boxes rather than ESL63s. My pre-amplifier features a filter which allows a step in the frequency response to be set. I think that this is intended to overcome room resonances. This filter can be used to reduce the mid-range honk. Another control on the amplifier allows the frequency response to be tilted, using this to boost high frequencies and cut low frequencies allows some detail to be heard over the mid-range mush. Build quality is poor. The arm, base and lid all needed replacing, due to manufacturing defects and short-circuits. The motor buzzes. In conclusion, a turntable/arm/cartridge with plenty of punch, good for rock or jazz. However, for listeners with good quality, neutral amplifiers and loudspeakers, the colouration will prove tiring. Particularly worrying is the way that all the different sound textures that can result from different collections of instruments, different scoring, different acoustics, different ways of playing are all lost and replaced with an aggressive punch. The musical and acoustic intentions of the composer, the musicians and the recording engineers are all but lost. The installation of the Linn equipment was performed together with a Linn dealer and is to the best of our knowledge a satisfactory installation. The sound colouration does not exist with other inputs including other turntable/arm/cartridge arrangements. I cannot recommend this turntable or associated products.

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Rega Planar 3, SME 3009, Ortofon

It's like an audio party charged with life, soul and tasty food. A bargain on the secondhand market.

..But pardon the old sofa sitting out in the yard! No one said this audio party was perfect. New LP12 pricing isn't as appealing: There are very interesting alternatives such as the Teres Audio turntable. And okay, the Ittok LV II arm sounds constricted on very loud passages but is a very worthy candidate for modification.

Every so often, you come across an audio product which has it's share of problems, but for whatever reason, it just makes you happy. And so, years after selling my first Sondek/Ittok combo, I've repurchased the set (a different one) in order to have another go at it. My "new" Linn is a pre-Cirkus Valhalla model, and when it arrived, I completely disassembled and cleaned it, installed new Cirkus springs and bushings and a fresh charge of oil and ensured that the motor was properly lubed. I also installed the current-type armboard, and I used all of the arm-mounting and suspension tuning tricks at my disposal. What a fuss! Twiddling with springs and grommets from beneath the turntable gets old real fast. When the suspension is not quite right, the sonics are very hifi, but not particularly involving, but when it's just-so, the bass notes flow easily; furrowed brows give way to relaxed smiles and happy feet! The left side of the brain notes that the sonics have a good deal of presence and are quite forward at times (as opposed to "distant", "airy" and "spacious"), and that there's a bit of a mid-bass bump, but it doesn't dwell further on the matter, as it's eager to join the party happening over on the right side.

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Rega Planar 2, Sota Sapphire, Oracle Delphi

everything is so dam right.

Adjustments

Top Notch. With "Denon" cartridges it get''s even better, a match made in heaven.I recommand the "cetech" chasis upgrade, it lifts a veil on the dynamics and microinformations in the record, it sound''s more right!

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Systemdeck 11x

Brought in 1989, then upgraded to Lingo, Cirkus, and trampolin a few years later. In 1998 bought an Ekos, very stisfied with the combination.