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Best Tonearm Upgrades for Linn LP12

I've just purchased a used Linn Sondek LP12, which I selected because of the high starting quality for the table and all the upgrade possibilities. I have the Valhalla Power Supply and a Basik Plus tonearm. Currently, I'm using an old Grado G-1+ cartridge and I will upgrade to a Dynavector 10x4 or 20X-H soon.

My questions are: Which tonearms will make the greatest improvement for the least money? And which tonearms are great matches with the turntable?
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patsuh's avatar
patsuh
22 posts
 
We just bought a linn lp12 majik, cirkus upgrade, hercules mose power supply and a rega rb2000 tonearm, which by the way, still waiting for a appropiate board arm which works with rega tonearm.
rega rb2000 is the best tonearm which offers rega. Our system is a ultra high end resolution system: martin logan clxes modified with mundorff caps, cardas binding posts as transparent cable inside, transparent reference xl mm2 loudspeakers cables, transparent mm power cords and filter, vtl mb185 series III amps with kt77 gold lyon, mullard vintage signal tubes, vtl 5.5II preamp with mulllards tubes, sony hap-z1 es server, transparent reference mm2 gen5 balanced interconnects. Turntable used to be vpi classic 3 with 3d arm, soundsmith straingauge 200 cartridge. The thing is we love linn turntable there is something that seems more musical than most.
we have 2 tonearms : rega rb2000 and sme 309 or maybe linn ekos se. The thing is, we trust very much on rega arm and stunning perfomance, vpi is good but not as good tracker and akward antiskate mechanism. But have someone compare rega with sme 309 ?.


 
 
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

According to my experience with the Linn the best value proposition is the Ittok. But the best tonearms are Naim Aro and Sumiko 800

(''the arm'').

fleib
1,124 posts
 

**Which tonearms will make the greatest improvement for the least money? And which tonearms are great matches with the turntable?**

The Alphason HR100S and the Zeta were bolt in replacements for the Ittock.  If you can find one of these, it should be < $1K.  The HR100 is S shaped and featured a one piece titanium armtube with integrated headshell.  Nice arm, highly detailed, but you might need a bit of damping (internal, wrap, or fluid) with some carts. Mass is 11/12g.

The Zeta is a heavier arm - straight aluminum one piece with big bold bass, and sweet top.  Mass is 16g.  With an LP12 it's critical to have the suspension adjusted correctly. Knowing how to do this could determine your satisfaction level with the table.  Both arms have height adjustment at the base with 2 allen wrenches and have high quality conventional  bearings.

Dynavector 10X4 ??   Be wary - This is ancient and not worth the effort. Apparently Dynavector farmed out production and many were released with the channels labeled out of phase. It's not worth retip money anyhow. The 20X H should be much better.  You might want to consider a vintage MM, many of which are better IMO than almost any HOMC.

Good luck with the table.

no_regrets
362 posts
 
Without a doubt, the best tone arm for the LP12 is the Naim ARO.  It is legendary!  A match made in heaven!  Your Dynavector's will work well with it too!

Enjoy your new table in good health!


Best wishes.
soldevere
11 posts
 
the OP was from 2003, so hopefully their LP12 is sorted by now. would be a shame if not.

i have an Aro on my LP12 and it's great. however, folks have had good results with the Roksan Nima -- another unipivot design, but less costly. (the scuttlebutt is that Roksan modeled the Nima (anagram for Naim) after the Aro when Naim discontinued it.)

the Aro's a beautiful piece of engineering -- museum worthy, in my ever so humble opinion -- so well worth picking one up if you can find one. it just looks so slick on the LP12.
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