The best change you can make at a very reasonable price is a new mat. Martin Colloms has used a Linn for over twenty years and said it was the best cheap upgrade he had ever had on anything. About $30 from an online shop in Scotland on ebay. Also a new belt if you have never changed it, around same price. The mat is a new thinner design, which, like the original, sounds different depending which side is up. This info is from a recent issue of HIFICRITIC in which they did an extensive survey of Linn upgrades. I recently bought a used Linn and am a VPI dealer so I am familiar with both tables. Look at the forums on the HIFICRITIC web site for extensive discussions of Linn.
Linn Upgrade?
I'm currently using a totally original ~1982 LP12, pre-Valhalla, pre-Cirkut, with a Fidelity Research FR64x arm and Benz MC20E-L cartridge. With the usual "upgrade-itis" I've been tempted by the Hercules II and/or MOSE upgrades (substitutes for the very-expensive Lingo, highly praised over in the Linn forum on vinylengine), or upgrading the cartridge. But the other voice in my head says that given the technology changes over the last 27 years, perhaps it makes more sense to buy a new VPI Scout (etc.). I'm actually quite happy with the sound of the Linn as it is, but having listened to a number of super-systems recently, am aware that things could be better. Of course the problem is that everything in the chain has an impact, but in terms of the vinyl front end alone, any thoughts?