Rega Planar 6 Ania vs Linn LP12

What does sound better out of the box? The Linn LP12 with the latest Majik tornarm. no upgrades. In addition, what are the advantages of the Linn design (except of upgradability)? The suspension system for the platter looks nice but I have not seen many turntables with that design. What’s your recommendation? (I don’t want to spend thousands upgrading the Majik)

I think that with the rega planar 6 with Ania out of the box you get better sound quality than with the LP12 Majik

 

In the early 70,s Linn was the thing.
Had one.
Rega way below, then.
Not familiar with planar 6.
It goes without saying that irrespective
Of suspension, wall shelf best, in my opinion.
These days i use a TD150, and Garrard 401.
They will sound different.
My money would be, on the Linn.
However 50 years in this hobby has
Taught me ,never to take anyone s
Word for it.
Listen for yourself.

 

I owned an RP6 for some time. Out 9f the box it was good, but not awe inspiring. I upgraded and modded the crap out of it and ultimately it started to sound very good. I have also owned an Oracle Delphi (suspended table) for many years and at one point had them both in my LR system doing a comparison. At the time the Oracle was a fairly stock MK1 with an sme 309 arm.
Ultimately even with all the upgrades to the rp6 (including an rb2000 arm) it did not sound as good as the Oracle. In my experience, a well setup suspended table is a sonic marvel. According to Jacques at Oracle, it has to do with damping micro vibrations via the suspension. The Rega design of light and rigid as well as the motor mount on the plinth doesn’t deal with micro vibrations as well.
I’d be heavily leaning towards the lp12 in this comparison.
As an afterthought, not long after doing that comparison, I sent my Delphi MK1 to Oracle for a full upgrade to MK6 spec, including the mvss (new micro vibration damping system). When I got it back, it was a huge upgrade (granted it was also a bunch of money). I did the same comparison to my fully modded rp6 and the Delphi just blew it away. Yeah, I know a new Delphi is like 10 times an rp6, but it was such a gap that it made the rp6 seem difficult to listen to.

Since then I have replaced the Rega with a Clearaudio Innovation with the TT3 tangental arm. Clearaudio seems to have the same rigid philosophy but they seem to go for the rigid and heavy school. The combination with the TT3 is awesome btw.

Imho, a well setup suspended table will generally outperform a rigid setup, so get the lp12, make sure it’s setup well and enjoy. Over time, there are some very interesting lp12 upgrades if that floats your boat down the road. You can turn a stock lp12 (already a very good performer) into a stellar performer, but as I have found, you can only go so far with an rp6.

 

If you don't want to get on the very expensive Linn upgrade ladder I suggest the P6. It's supposed to be much better than the previous RP6. Or why not go for the P8? Also suggest you look at Michell Gyrodec (with Rega or Tecnoarm) if you are happier with suspended designs. For mass loaded alternative try auditioning the Notts Analog Space decks.

 

Just what I was about to write. And also remember that the Michell, with it's springs-in-tension suspension, us inherently more stable that Linn LP12, with it's springs-in-compression suspension. It is also much more interesting and attractive.

 

I owned a P6 with a Dynavector 10x5 for many years, so similar standard to Ania. Two years ago, I changed it for an LP12, albeit not entry level (three upgrades to Akurate level were the Kore sub-chassis, Akito tonearm, Trampolinn 2 base board and the Lingo 4 power supply), using the same DV 10x5 cartridge. The improvement in sound was huge. No comparison, but then I should be (Rega P6 with 10x5 £1,350 vs LP12 @£7,500) so not really answering your direct question but may be of interest

I’ve recently spent another £6 net of trade-ins and with Linn’s special offer to upgrade:
- Karousel bearing
- Ekos SE tonearm
- DV XX-2 MkII
- Radikal power supply

Now a £13k deck. The improvement was very significant but not as significant as the jump from the Rega to the first iteration of the LP12.

 

IMHO, the Majik is overpriced. If you buy a used LP12, you potentially get a lot more performance vs a new Majik. $4k US can get you a lot of deck.

jeff

 

I have heard both the Planar 6 and LP12 Majik, however it was not in the same system or on the same day - so not apples to apples here. I honestly think you'd be happy with either from a sound perspective. I'm not sure what you're coming from or what you're looking for sound wise, but both do sound good.
However the ownership experience will be very different. The Rega will clearly be the "easier" table to own. Less maintenance, less set up, easier to change cartridges if you're staying in the Rega line. From a sound perspective based on my limited experience, I think I would choose the LP12. And from a looks perspective I would certainly lean that way. I'm not sure what your pricing is like in Tokyo, but here in the US the LP12 is also much more expensive. So when you factor in the whole experience, not just the sound, the LP12 is a bigger financial investment, a bigger maintenance investment, and a bigger initial set up time investment.

I know you said you'd have no plans to upgrade the LP12, but I have to say the modular upgrade paths are another huge advantage of that table. Something you could really get behind for years and might end up cheaper than upgrading to another model TT down the road. But again, you still need to make those upgrades and do the set up each time, and that's a lof of fun for some people, but a big annoyance for others. Just depends on your perspective.

 

Sorry, I meant upgrades from Majik, not Akurate.

 

I recently trialed a P6 with Exact and it was nice but no where close to the VPI Prime Scout I ended up with. And the P6 was only slight better than my Project 1Xpression with 2MBronze

 

I have had a few Linns here myself. I tried to love one but I couldn't quite bond with it. I have worked on several for customers also, so i have a pretty good idea of what one should sound like. Several of these had different arms and of course cartridges. I have used and sold Rega tables for over 25 years. The Linn has a warmer sound overall and can be excellent, but it is harder to set-up and can suffer from footfalls in spaces with wood floors. and acoustic coupling in small rooms. The Rega decks are much more immune to these effects. Put a great sounding cartridge on either style of deck and you'll get great sound quality. I prefer the solid feel of decks that have solid, or at least firm, suspensions myself. Also the Rega tonearm is really ergonomic, and the latest Planar 6 features bring really nice performance at its price point.
-Bill