the LP12 looks like the same table from the mid 1970's and sounds like it too unless you have an expert setup tech close to your house. I hear some do come from Europe once in a while to do it.
Linn LP12 setup complexity eased and setup stability improved many years ago. An LP12 Majik or Akurate out of the box, fresh from the factory, is nowhere near as difficult to set up at home as the respective models were in the past. Having a Linn setup jig makes the process easier no doubt, but it’s not absolutely necessary. The most recent LP12 I set up was an Akurate that required a total of 90 minutes to get really right including the cartridge. Sounds wonderful - locked in perfectly. A novice turntable user should not purchase an LP12 unless he’s got an authorized dealer nearby to do the setup for him. But for novices, and plenty of intermediate skill-level users too, new turntables and cartridges from any brand are best set up by the shop. There have been a lot of changes and improvements to the LP12 over the years. The fact that the exterior looks largely the same is mainly evidence of respect for a highly successful, traditional design. Similarly, the Technics SL1200G (for one) also retains as much of the outer appearance of its predecessors. Even moreso than the LP12, the changes under the skin of the SL1200 definitely set it above its predecessors too, just the like current LP12 models exceed some of the capabilities of their historical counterparts.
It always surprises me that people don't want to believe the sonic differences between the GR & G and it's usually the same reason in every situation, in essence, people don't want to believe there is an difference because they can't afford the better unit. It's the brutal truth and that's a hard pill to swallow. I didn't want to believe there was a difference between the Lingo 3 and 4 shortly after I'd bought the 3 and then the 4 came out a few weeks later, truth is, you'd have to be deaf not to hear the difference. Fact is, the 'G' is the better deck, as you would expect.
I have an old one around here somewhere. It came on a friends LP12. He hated it, so took my felt mat which I wasn't using anyway. I tried it on my SL-1200 one day. Wow, talk about sucking all the life out of the music. jeff
Found the same thing, I actually hunted out the thicker Technics mat, 6mm I think, to solve a VTA issue with the AT33Ptg but thought it sounded better than the supplied 3mm when using the Delos both with correct VTA.
Funnily enough before I travelled overseas (ea April) I had switched to using the original Technics mat combined with a 1.5mm silicone topper. I found that I preferred the sound of this to either the Achromt or the Technics mat on its own (blue silicone mat was among a selection of others I had amassed over the years, still available: TURNTABLE / PLATTER MAT SILICONE RUBBER BLUE 1.5MMTHK | eBay ) I'm finally back home in a week and will probably continue with this combination.
It really is good to have a balanced discussion in a Technics / Linn thread! Sadly I haven't used a turntable for around 12 years, the last being a LP12 with Cirkus, Lingo 2, Ekos 2 and Arkiv B. Since then Linn have made several improvements and introduced several upgrades and Technics have introduced the 1200G variants. Whilst both turntables look very similar to earlier versions the performance of both the Technics and LP12 are much improved and the only way to make a valid comparison is to compare the current models without preconceptions. As has been said many times, a current LP12 is not the same as the one your Grandfather owned back in 1974 and in fact set up and has been easy for the last 30 years with decks not going off tune. To that I will also add that the LP12 your father had from 1993 is not the, same as a current spec either! Having recently heard the Lingo 4 improvement over a Lingo 3, my spec LP12 is comprehensively outperformed by the Akurate level spec and the Klimax, yes, not an insubstantial amount of money a whole lot better again. Having now heard a friend's SL1200G, this is definitely not the same as the SL1200Mk2 your Grandfather / father, or local DJ owned! I don't know how unique this is, but my local dealer stocks Pro-Ject, Michell, SME, Linn and Technics. Just because a 1993 LP12 betters a 1973 version and a 2019 is better than the 1993 spec, doesn't make the original unlistenable, equally although the 1200G is substantially better than the SL1200Mk2, the older design is still a good turntable. I miss listening to my LP12...
Very fair question, especially as you know I've owned LP12S. When my wife and me bought our house together, there was a delay selling her house and for a few months we were skint. We had recently had our son, so the motorbike, the turntable combination I mentioned went together with a Linn Unidisk 1.1, Kisto, Linto, one of the 5125 amps, aktiv cards and 242 speakers. Our beautiful son is autistic and having been rejected by the education system is home educated. Long story short, a turntable is not a practical solution and even listening through speakers is difficult. Hence no LP12, or indeed any turntable. I do have an older LP12, Ittok in pieces and an anniversary top plate and lovely walnut fluted plinth together with a lot of vinyl - unused for far too long. Unless I go to friends, or dealers, at home my listening is restricted to headphones - my son comes first. My drums have also not come out of their cases for over a decade.....
This common misconception is actually not accurate, or correct! Once the LP12 ( really of just about any vintage, but certainly more so the younger the table) is correctly set up ( This is the crucial aspect...as there are a number of ways to screw up the set up, and IME it is best left to a Linn tech who has experience with such things; letting the local car mechanic do it...isn't really the way to go, contrary to a lot of folks who swear by their car tuning ability and therefore their LP12 tuning ability, LOL) is set up...it will stay that way through time. Therefore, it really does NOT need a ton of maintenance.
True, but only to some extent and only for older LP12 turntables. Not true at all for LP12 turntables made since 2001 or so.
My LP12 is a 1993 unit. Was brought to my house by my Linn dealer when new, set up and wasn't touched for 20 years. Then a going over from the dealer (new suspension, belt, cartridge, etc). He said it was just a tiny bit out of adjustment before he started so for those who think these tables go out of adjustment all the time I beg to differ. I think most of adjustment problems would be caused by moving the table without taking the proper precautions (removing outer platter and supporting the inner platter).
If I recall correctly 1993 was the year when Linn added a few improvements that greatly helped the deck retain alignment. I have a 1999 which I purchased new, and I don't think is much different than the one you have. I bring it in every 5 years for a belt and a tune up. It has been 5 years since last tune, it's now 20 years old, and it is still perfectly in tune. I would do the belt myself and skip the tune, but I'm bringing it in for a cartridge upgrade and since I bought the cartridge thru the dealer I get a special price on installation, and a tune up. We should consider ourselves lucky that our two Linns are the only ones in existence that do not have the maintenance horrors that every other Linn on the planet seems to have.
Found the info below on Wikipedia, 1993 was when the Linn introduced the Cirkus mod, which improved the stability of the table. My table was purchased new with this as standard, and I've had no maintenance issues. I'm guessing your 1993 Linn has this as well? The Cirkus upgrade (Introduced: 1993) The Cirkus kit aims to provide the LP12 with greater stability and ensure the bearing sits perfectly true to the chassis, through a redesigned bearing and stronger sub-chassis assembly. The bearing housing height has been increased to improve lubrication; its mounting flange thickness has been substantially increased; the geometry of the top and bottom liners in the bearing housing has been altered to further reduce incidence of rocking. Thickness of the sub-chassis was doubled to improve rigidity, reduce flexing and improve control of the relationship between turntable platter and arm. With the new bearing comes a new sub-platter.
Uhmm, I don't think the introduction of the Cirkus bearing mod was intended to decrease the incidents of maintenance of the LP12. It was, and is, a great upgrade that I would highly recommend to anyone who owns a pre-Cirkus LP12. What it does is to reduce the impact of the bearing on the SQ. The fact that the bearing is a lot quieter is what I believe contributes to this aspect. The greater stability is referring to the fact that the new bearing ( Cirkus) is a lot more stable/quiet in the well. The various sub chassis changes have occurred due to Linn's desire to increase the overall rigidity of the whole structure and their belief that an ultra rigid path between the tonearm and the sub-chassis is desirable ( which I believe it is). Maintenance issues really are not more of a factor than in any other turntable, regardless of LP12 vintage. Going out of 'tune' is due to incorrect table set up in the first place. Like I stated above, if you have a correctly set up LP12, you should enjoy years of hassle free use.
Totally agree with everything that @DaveyF says. Yes, LP12s circa 1993 when the Cirkus upgrade came out were easy to set up and stayed set up, but this, is largely down to the improvements throughout the '80's, starting with the Nirvana kit from 1981. The glued sub-chassis from 1984 gave a sonic improvement and removed the risk of it being very occasionally slightly distorted. Springs were ground to tighter tolerances in 1986 and again in 1988. The denser grommets were introduced in 1989, and the Linn bolt straightener tool given to dealers. Ignoring the fact that most Linn dealers could sort out the occasional difficult LP12s without any of these improvements, @James1972, that still leaves the last 30 years when LP12s have not "gone off", or fallen out of adjustment! This is continuous improvement and of course all these improvements can be retro fitted. Edit. New springs and grommets are hardly a big investment to give an improvement both sonically and with stability for a Sondek older than 30 years!
