Turntable Bearings

The new Cirkus upgrade costs 1300 and no one will sell any NOS bearings. The issue is how to tell wear on any used 25 yr old table bearing and spindle. If you can see it; then it's too far gone to even consider as a purchase. So what thhen?

The Linn bearing has a very tight tolerance. When used with the recommended Linn black oil, the spindle should slowly float down within the bearing well, sometimes taking minutes to settle. If it drops too quickly, the tolerance may be off. With respect to wear on the point that comes in contact with the thrust plate, spin the platter ( without the drive belt), the platter should spin freely for a prolong period of time. Also, you can purchase an inexpensive stethoscope and listen for bearing noise, but you need to know what to listen for as you currently have no reference point.

Yes, it is difficult to find a nos bearing and that is due to the fact that the bearing and platter were sold as a set. A lot of people have upgraded to the Cirkus bearing, therefore, there should be a lot of used but excellent condition old bearing/platter combo that can be purchased for an excellent price.

Yes; tried the stethoscope and seems o'kay. Consulted with two known expert Linn tech's and they seem to agree that thirty yr old bearing should be replaced regardless. No 1st gen Cirkus NOS available so the new Cirkus is the only option. Now to restate my question; does anyone recommend the purchase of a thirty year old TT with no way to conclusively determine thhe viability of the platter spindle and bearing? I would like to sell this table to a friend but not w/o being able to assure him of it's value. I know I could try for an NOS bbearing from Russ Andrews but I'm not sure it would fit in with my existing sub-chassis. I see a llot of older tables for sale and wonder if anyone really knows if the bearings are not worn into audible problems; even if you can't see the wear. BTW; thanks to all for the very informative and kind responses.

The new(er) bearings will fit in the older tables. There are literally thousands of 30 year old LP12 in service with their original bearings and existing owners are not complaining. If you like the Linn sound, an older LP 12 with an Ittok arm in for around the $1k range used is hard to beat.

Btw, you can always purchase a cheap digital USB microscope and check for a flat spot on the spindle point.