mag3474

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from ebay

Summary:
Having owned the eponymous LP12 with Ittok II arm for 2 years now I feel able to comment on its qualities for those intending to pick up a nice used example of this turntable. The suspended design whilst considered at the forefront in its day has now, to my ears, been surpassed by other manufaturers such as Clearaudio, VPI and of course SME. I have noticed the wide range of comments in other reviews and feel that all of them can, in one way or another, be justified. On the whole, my experience with this turntable has been a good one. Once installed and properly set up (a task in itself) I enjoyed it through the Origin Live advanced dc motor power supply and through a Dino+ phono stage. For good measure I was using an Ortofon Rohmann m/c and the sound was, on the whole, very good with rich tonal imaging, fantastic soundstaging and lots of pace and rhytham. Put on anything from Mozart to the Pixies and the LP12's character was there to hear with full, ripe and textured music which never lost its pace or rhytham - whatever was thrown at it. I can completely understand why this turntable would have received such glowing reports from many satisfied owners. This is especially so when one considers I have had to spend almost 10 times the amount on its replacement to notice a worthwhile difference. At the same time, this excellent used buy should be treated with some caution. Whilst it makes for an excellent second hand buy, there are also some ropey examples with shot suspension and tired arms/bearings. The servicing and careful set up is also a little bit of a bind and ultimately the old adage of 'you get what you pay for' does rear its head when comparing the LP12 to the best of the competition today. The slighly lumpy(?) and nebulous bass can be mildly distracting on some pieces/ tracks, but I feel I am nit picking when taking into overall consideration what you get for your money. Properly set up with a good arm and decent cartridge this turntable has delivered two years of musical pleasure to these ears and whilst its replacement is truly stunning - it has come at a significant price hike. Overall this turntable must receive a qualified recommendation for what it does well rather than its short comings.

Strengths:
An excellent used purchase and glimpse at high end for an affordable price

Weaknesses:
Fiddly to set up and maintain properly & has been surpassed since its heyday

Similar Products Used:
Systemdek IIX with RB250 arm SME 20/2a with V arm

mystic fred

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.33 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $800.00 from second hand

Summary:
believe all the hype! i eventually acquired a linn sondek fitted with ittok arm and audio technica 440 cartridge and was amazed at the amount of detail revealed from ordinary recordings. my vinyl collection took on a new lease of life, and i continue adding to it. classical music recordings are particularly rewarding, especially as they can be picked up at ridiculously cheap prices these days. the linn is very kind regarding surface noise, you have to listen very carefully to let it interfere with the music. i also use cd's but prefer vinyl, cd's are fine but can sound clinical and lack the sophisticated sound of vinyl.i had the deck set up professionally for £30 and will need no further maintenance. modern styli are very robust and even if used everyday will last for years if cleaned regularly, as is the same for records, most of my collection are 30 to 50 years old but still sound new. will we still be using the same cd's in 50 years? who knows time will tell.

Strengths:
excellent detail, soundstage and imaging, no coloration, sometimes a little too revealing, will show up poorly recorded albums. will work best if set up on a wall shelf. excellent product support, most quality dealers support linn. spares if required are easy to obtain.

Weaknesses:
none really, except turntables of this quality are expensive of course ( 1 years council tax) but reap many years of listening pleasure.

Similar Products Used:
rega planar 3 with rb250 arm, the best budget deck on the market, amazing sound.

bjm

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1300.00 from Used

Summary:
Let me start with the bottom line: This is an excellent turntable. My set-up has the Cirkus bearing, Ittok tonearm, Valhalla power supply and a Shure V15VXMR cartridge. The stock tonearm cable was changed to a custom-made Discovery Plus 4. Now there are many newer tables available that may be better in engineering build quality and many are likely better against some standard of sound quality. If you truly like to listen to music I don't feel owning a Linn LP12 could ever be considered a mistake. This deck is not the easiest to setup, but it is not nearly as difficult as some of the folklore would have you believe. The suspension seemed easy with the Ittok, perhaps with other brands of tonearms it might me more of a challenge. Once the cartridge is roughed in, I use an old Dennison Soundtraktor to get the cartridge aligned. Actually, I matched my final result to the cardboard tool Linn includes and both results were dead-on so it may be a cheaper way to go! Initially, there was some fiddling to try to find the proper height for the tonearm, but this adjustment only needs to be done once for an average height record. (After that, if you are REALLY fussy, I recommend the Ringmat spacer system for adjusting rake angle much more easily---but it is expensive for what you get.) One difficulty with any sprung suspension turntable is its susceptibility to footfalls. The LP12 is a very touchy deck and needs an appropriate support. I have found that the wall-mounted Target stand is excellent for isolating the 'table. Targets are easy to find second hand for about $70 and well worth the investment. I have not tried any of the floor standing supports like the Mana etc. Getting to the most important part of the review, the performance is remarkable. My fairly common LP12 setup does get to the heart of the music. I won't comment on the whole rythmn and pace thing, but music just comes alive through the LP!@ that it hadn't through other good decks I've owned.It provides a very tight and stable support for an album. I have about three hundred albums, some of which I've owned for forty years and compared to the CD equivilents, still sound much better. I think the Shure cartridge is able to get deep into the grooves below all of those years of wear and provides excellent reproduction. Note: I have used higher priced moving coils with even better results, but also I've felt that sick feeling in my stomach after shearing off an expensive cantilever on a cartridge and now prefer forego some ultimate performance to avoid those hugely expensive mistakes! I recommend a Linn LP12 for those who want solid, reliable performance in a table that they can keep for years to come. It's not the fanciest or most high-tech looking turntable, but it can really sing!

Strengths:
Excellent performance. It has been around for 30+ years so support and parts are available. Well-made.

Weaknesses:
Somewhat finicky, but not as bad as some would lead you to believe.

Similar Products Used:
Thorens TD 160 with SME Series III Denon Systemdek IIX with Audioquest PT6

mdz1000

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 9.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2500.00 from ebay

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
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.

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
Thorens 320 Dual Garrard

goodwood

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.43 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
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.