Thoughts on the Linn LP12 turntable
I don’t see many discussions that include the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable and was wondering why? They’ve been around since the late 70’s and other then power supply and a few other minor changes (IMO) are relatively unchanged. I had one in the early 80’s and another in the late 90’s. They are somewhat finicky to get setup correct and once you do, they sound great. That being said I know there have been a lot better designs to come out since the LP12’s hey-day. Are they worth considering anymore or has the LP12 just become another audio vintage collectors item?
Some of the most musical sonics from a TT setup, I have experienced with an LP12. Not the most accurate but not too off to sound wrong. The ones I liked were fitted with Aro/ Cirkus/ Lingo2/ Helikon and another one with the latest SME/Keel/Radikal/Kandid. Both different but gets to the heart of the music in the first place. Not many modern TTs can claim that btw.
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@pindac , everything was same as far as I remember except, the Linn was paired with its own Urika phono and Avid was paired with Avid Pulsare 2 phono. Also the tonearms were both SME but Linn had its own Ekos SE tonearm made by SME and Avid had an SME V. Both TTs used stuff as recommended/matched by their manufacturers Or lets say as most people would use it. |
LP12 is like a traditional tube EL34/Kt88 tube. Some dismiss it as old school while others consider it musically charming and relevant. I have heard LP12 sound very ordinary and very awesome. Many modern TTs have very low (CD like?) noise floor and expansive soundstage, pin point imaging and big dynamics. Thats their achievement which is to be applauded. But do they represent music the way it was intended by the musicians? A lot of them just fall flat on this ground alone. An AMG Viela V12 sounds dead boring🥱. A Dohmann Helix takes pride in its all out effort for isolation, but play some Michael Jackson on it and see if the "king of the pop" feels like he is taking hou back in time to groove again. Just doesn't happen! All the imaging and soundstaging specificity is there to wow the listener as long as that's what the recording is all about. A Kronos TT sounds like a CD with better dynamics. Dry harmonics and discrete flow. I can go on and on. I have heard a lot of these TTs and it is extremely disappointing what today's one man designer voiced equipments sound like. Before some consider me as a LP12 fanboy, my favourite reference TTs are Kondo Ginga, Hartvig, SME 30/12, EMT 927, Micro Seiki 5000 and 8000 etc If I list out all the modern TTs which suck at keeping the integrity of the music, the list will be very long.
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