They seem to be doing very well now in the current digital and streaming world of devices. They are pushing that big time. Not sure how their tables are selling....
They weren't the first and surely won't be the last manufacturer to get into difficulties in the hi fi industry, just look at how many companies we've lost in the last few years, I have no idea how they are doing, but hopefully they are now on a sound financial footing as regardless of my opinion of the LP12 I'm glad people have the option to buy it.
They had around 300 employees around 2006/2007 and now have somewhere around 175. They have returned profits for 8 continuous years, and continue to invest around two million per annum in R&D. They also continue to invest heavily in the factory; for anyone interested, here is a link. £1.3m Factory Investment For Linn | Hifi Pig If anyone is ever staying anywhere near Glasgow, a Linn user or not, for anyone remotely interested in either manufacturing, or Hi-Fi, a Linn factory visit is a fascinating way to spend a couple of hours - there are very few specialist Hi-Fi companies world wide, who re-invest as much as Linn do.
No, it is very sad how few independent UK Hi-Fi companies remain, but good to know some continue to do well. Whatever people's view of the LP12 is, I believe it good that Linn continue to support it, and whilst some turntables have had no investment for many years, that Linn continue to make improvements and offer new upgrades. As turntables are probably somewhere around 10% of their business it would probably make better financial sense not to, but the 45th anniversary bought further improvements. I wonder how many Linn distractors have actually heard a current production LP12? There have been a number of small improvements since I heard a LP12, so certainly will not conjecture on it's relative performance, the same as not commenting on the capabilities of the Technics 1200G.
I’m really bummed they recently dumped the Linn Forum. There was a serious wealth of information there that’s now gone.
Pretty simple to find out with a quick google ... Linn Forum 8th October 2018 For the past few weeks the Linn Forum has been offline as we held our global product launches of Selekt DSM. During this time we have taken the opportunity to review the purpose, moderation and usage of the platform and have reached the conclusion that it is no longer viable for us to manage it in its current format. Our approach in the past few years has been to take a light touch with moderation, but it’s become increasingly clear that a healthy forum needs more than that. As a manufacturing organisation we want to focus all of our efforts on developing innovative products and so feel it is more appropriate for these conversations to take place in other forums where the resource is in place to appropriately support members. Going forward, we are looking to address the gaps for forum members who are looking to connect with Linn: Product issues and technical support: contact our customer support team on [email protected] or using the 'Report to Linn' function within your product Expanded product information, product user guides and software information: use our reference site Linn Docs docs.linn.co.uk Beta testing programme: a new beta platform will launch in the coming weeks and we will share details with you as soon as we can We understand that there is a community within the Linn Forum who will want to continue their conversations on topics such as their system set up, the HiFi industry and many other things and so we are delighted to be able to announce that Hifi Wigwam will be partnering with us to allow this conversation to continue. The team at The Wam have already set up a Linn space and look forward to welcoming you to their community.
I love how during this whole debate about Linn setup and going back and forth, in the amount of time and energy used to set up the Linn, the 1200G user has already listened to numerous records, may have changed out to a few different carts to play with, had dinner, and is probably back to playing more records.
Hardly makes a difference if any as most of the weight on the springs is platter / arm etc. Read previous post forget about Linn and spend time playing records with something less fussy.
Well, I have had my Linn LP12 about 14 years now. I have not traded up down or around as of yet. Currently it has a Blue Note Unipivot arm and Valhalla power supply. When I have it all tuned up it boogies.
Many of the LPs were set up without fuss and still in a good state of tune when they were returned for the cartridge to be inspected or replaced. In this time the majority of owners seemed to enjoy playing records rather than constantly cartridge swapping. I now appreciate why a mono cartridge helps mono playback, but not encountered owners with five or six cartridges before. What is the sonic benefit of splitting the budget several ways?
Suspension turntables are still very relevant... See the state of the art Dohmann Helix and Helix2- suspended with belt drive motor. Must be something in it if top designers actually prefer this design... ATB, Mark
I've moved mine 3 times in the original packaging and it still sounds wonderful to me and remained level after setting it up again.
Here we have a major difference of opinion! Linn owners not having problems with LP12s, despite several moves and another owner not having a regular tune up and non-Linn owners telling people with a passing interest in the LP12 that they are fussy. The only LP12s that I have seen really off tune arrived with the outer platter on, crashing into the top plate over bumps and moving from side to side cornering after a journey in the back of a car. Call me mad, but I wouldn't treat any turntable like that, and I don't know of any sane person who would blame the turntable for "going off" after such negligence and abuse. Back in early 1993, I had sold my previous LP12, Ittok, which had set up easily from a complete strip down: the bearings on the Ittok performed perfectly. The only problem with it, was the amount of use it had and needing a new cartridge after a couple of years - four to five hours use a night was not a rarity. (The cartridge was changed, the turntable needed no attention, and the bearings on the Ittok were still performing perfectly). A work colleague and myself listened to some excellent turntable combinations and both decided to purchase a LP12, Ekos 2 and Arkiv. I kept my old Lingo. The interesting part of this, was that I set up brand two turntables in as many days, with the same plinth finish, assembled by the same person at the factory with arms and cartridge of identical vintage. Both turntables were very easy to set up, and the Ekos 2 performed perfectly. So back in 1993 a LP12 really wasn't difficult to set up and there were no issues with an Ekos 2. A few weeks later, the Cirkus was launched and Linn kindly sent out a number of kits for customers who had recently purchased LP12s, so one was allocated for my colleague and myself. This represented a fairly unique opportunity. Before fitting a Cirkus, we compared both of our LP12s using one Lingo, the speed identical on both. Four or five people had a listen and using identical wall shelfs, nobody could hear a difference. We invited over a customer friend who had briefly heard a Cirkus, and stated a possible preference for the pre-Cirkused bearing. I then fitted a Cirkus kit to my colleagues turntable, which again set up without any problems and ensured it was running at the identical speed to my identical, but non-Cirkus LP12. Using identical wall shelfs, the one Lingo, I did a blind dem for the customer who had mentioned a preference for the older bearing and my colleague listening for the first time to his newly Cirkused turntable. Out of five pieces of music, both had a clear preference for the LP12 with Cirkus on every occasion. So did I and the shop owner, who ordered another Cirkus for themself, immediately. Staying late, I fitted the Cirkus to my turntable, which again was a pleasure to fit, packed it properly and drove home for a listening session that went on until five in the morning. In my system which I had lived with for over a month without the Cirkus, the difference was instantly recognisable as an improvement and a very noticeable one. The following day at work my colleague and I, both were buzzing at the improvement which was clearly audible on each and every record played. None of the LP12s that we fitted a Cirkus to, did the owner ever ask for it to be removed. In my opinion, and a number of happy owners, a LP12 purchased new in April 1993, or an earlier one with a Cirkus upgrade sounded noticeably better than the older bearing. After a couple of years or so of a lot of use, the Arkiv had started to wear, so was traded in for the noticeably better Arkiv B. The turntable had maintained it's state of tune, and there were no problems with the Ekos 2 whatsoever. I sold that LP12 to a friend, where he had an Akiva fitted to replace the well-used Arkiv B and more recently the fairly new Krystal cartridge replaced the well-used Akiva! In the last 25 years the turntable never went off tune, new springs and grommets were fitted when the turntable was serviced. In reality, the service was when a cartridge was replaced. The now 25 year old Ekos 2 still performs without any problems and the turntable has never been fussy, or gone off. Yes, it has been treated with respect, but basically it has given a lot of listening pleasure for several thousand hours. I'm sure there are a number of users with identical experience. I haven't compared turntables for over a decade, and neither has my friend who bought my LP12, all I can say is that despite several cartridge changes (for wear) the Ekos 2 still performs as expected and that the turntable, still running on an original Lingo, without Keel or even Kore has delighted both owners and many listeners, never "gone off" and always been simple to set up. I see no reason for anyone not to buy a LP12 for any other reason than preferring a diferent one in a comparison in the same system. It remains a very capable tool to play and enjoy records, regardless of age and spec. I honestly believe that some may have bought lesser turntables than the LP12, simply because of the fearmongering. Happy listening, whatever your preferred equipment.
The last LP12 I had, for two or three weeks before moving it on, didn't suffer any untoward effects from being carefully moved, this would be about fifteen years ago, it was a decent spec mid or late nineties one and although back then I had a Linn expert literally on my doorstep I didn't have to have anything done regards getting it tuned, the one before that was a much older model and did require expert intervention, I think I sold that one as it was so my limited experience supports the claim that later Linns don't require the black arts of Linn tuning at least beyond initial set up. Based on the numerous systems I've seen and heard plus the many record decks I've bought I think the fact Linn emphasises dealer set up is actually beneficial, with some experience and good instructions most decks are pretty straightforward to set up properly, but that doesn't seem to stop a fair proportion of people from getting it wrong, including Technics owners, Linn's approach does have it's merits even if I prefer a different sound.
Earlier ones with the addition of the springs from 1988, and grommets from 1989 and a tweak on the bolts (if required) usually sorted them out. With the more accurately ground springs, harder grommets and perpendicular bolts, not suprisingly the turntable would be far easier to set and stay set. As these parts were all cheap, with the owners consent these parts were replaced at service time. The glued sub-chassis and improved armboard were offered, so many earlier LP12s were upgraded for improved sound and stability over time. Certainly most UK Linn retailers had a LP12 clinic once a year, where the customer would only pay for parts used. Most LP12 owners liked the option of the updates. As I mentioned in a post, in my experience, around 1 in 3 non-Linn turntables had some kind of issue with them when they came into the shop, which is a lot of turntables performing sub-par, or worse still fairly broken. With Linn's approach, though not perfect, more achieved the intended performance. By the early '90's, it was fairly unusual to see a very early LP12 that hadn't had some upgrade, such as the Nirvana kit - bolts, locknuts and springs.
I suspect that somewhere right now, there are hobbyists posting to a MG forum, talking about the intricacies of their little cars. No doubt huge money to maintain, quirky little British things, increasingly rare and fiddly to keep on the road. Kinda like many things British really. Kinda like Linn is going to become.
You’re right of course @H8SLKC - I'm British & an even older vintage than the LP12. - I’m definitely going out of balance, I forget things and my head is becoming a shell. - My wife’s suspension needs a tune-up & her belt's gone flabby, she's nearly worn out the diamond I fitted 40 yrs ago. - She definitely sounds more shrill than when first installed. - Our arms are out of alignment & need a rest, we keep losing our bearings & our feet aren’t as stable as they once were. Good job there’s a dentist & doctor for repairs & updates! (...no cost to maintain as we have the National Health Service)
I presume from that comment you've never been to the Linn factory Linn music systems company profile - Director magazine
I gave up on that sales pitch when the writer mentioned the introduction of the 'revolutionary LP12'. Original was anything but - a design nicked from Ariston which itself was based on a Thorens TD150. I'm sure even the Chinese owners of the current MG have more technology than Linn but all that won't guarantee a flawless product (actually they produce a crap product by current standards). Linn are certainly better at marketing than either the new MG or the old british company. Of course a lot of new technology is available in engineering so things are unrecognisable from 1973. Better tolerances can be achieved and electronics plays a bigger part in overcoming the original's design flaws. I think in the end it's an expensive way to polish a turd.
