Lingo4, kore, 3 year old cirkus here, down for a karousel, DV20 x L and an ekos in the coming months or as soon as the lockdown lifts.
According to my maths, it's 27 years from Cirkus to Karousel. Back in 1993 I worked for a Linn, Michell, Roksan dealer and a colleague and myself bought a new LP12 shortly before the Cirkus was released in April 1993. Linn sent us both free Cirkus kits, but we had a month living with the excellently engineered pre-Cirkus bearing. The improvement was marked, we did dozens of demonstrations and a number of people chose to improve the performance of their turntable. I cannot think of a single manufacturer who doesn't look at continuous improvement of their products. Some simply silently introduce regular changes - one manufacturer suggested we turn around their dem amp every month. I get the opinion that in some quarters Linn would get more kudos if they'd gone under and started again under another name. How about LP12 Mk ii, Mk iii, Mk iv, Mk v, G, GR, 10th anniversary, 20th anniversary with built in obsolescence. Regarding the "32years to fix a bearing outstanding work , wonder what next weeks upgrade will be" qoute, the Cirkus bearing wasn't / isn't broken and just maybe a large number of turntables, whatever the drive methods could sound better with a tighter toleranced and quieter main bearing? Back in my time in retail we simply asked customers if they wanted to be kept informed about future updates - 90%+ did.
Lot of folks use their PU7 on a Linn with a Benz cartridge. The LPS MR ( now no longer available, but apparently still sourced by a few dealers??) is the #1 choice. I would think this would be a great combo.
I thought they were available in the UK from March / April, but obviously very unusual times. What was your previous bearing please, Cirkus, or pre- Cirkus? What are your impressions? Whilst no longer using a turntable for family reasons, I was a long time LP12 owner. The Lingo having been my favourite LP12 update, I'm intrigued if the Karousel with a Basik power supply is recommended (better) than a Lingo / Cirkus. Obviously if I was to start using a turntable again (I have got enough parts to put together a complete LP12 and arm) I would listen to Linn (and alternatives) but the whole bearing / turntable power supply / sub-chassis is both intriguing and confusing (and I was a Linn dealer for 15 years) - I stopped at Cirkus sub-chassis, Lingo 2 and Ekos 2. I know the theory is from the inside out, but the Valhalla to Lingo change for me was massive.....
Thrilled to bits, every day brings new revelations. Sometimes with the simplest of recordings (such as a mainly piano LP, last night) there is a massive leap in realism and presence. It’s early days and it continues to improve. But, as I’ve written elsewhere, at the same time I also treated myself de facto to a full service, a new belt and a AT33Sa. So there’s that. The fat lady is singing every day, all day.
Lol, on some Linn based forums, if the part doesn’t meet their ‘tune dem’ protocol, it cannot be any good. Even if the upgrade is clearly heard as beneficial by all!
Some revelations, post-Karousel installation, in no especial order. Nordub/Nils Petter Molvæe Tempest/Bob Dylan Marseille/Ahmad Jamal Brel/Jacques Brel Anthology 3 (DeAgostini pressing)/The Beatles Three In A Cell/The Peddlers All sounding like totally different records.
Looking forward to reading about this. Not yet made it down here yes, as far as I know. I'm on an Ekos/Kore/Hercules-Mose set up but I do have a Tranquility and I'm quite happy with that.
I thought I’d written about that on one thread at least. I’d made no changes to this LP12 , bought in 1990 - until now. The inner platter, bearing and sub-chassis dated from then (the springs and grommets were refreshed in 2013). The sub-chassis carried a date of 26/04/1990. I sold all these recovered parts on eBay for 100€, which was nice to offset the cost of Karousel. The immediate difference I notice is a sense of "weight" to instruments. Not always noticeable on every record, there is a heightened sense of realism to many recordings with a "thwack" that just hits you in the chest. It’s that that is pleasurable and quite remarkable. Playing "Tempest" yesterday I was struck by this. Never a favourite Dylan record it sounded much different and much more enjoyable as a result. I was taken to the heart of the music. I also feel that I finally get what so many comment on ... the speakers themselves have largely 'disappeared' and I was simply awash with music.
So you had the subchassis upgraded as well? What level? This and the AT33 SA will make quite a difference so it is not possible to assess how much difference the bearing / inner platter change alone makes. Don't think 100 Euros makes much of a dent in that lot.
I also sold the AT33PTG/II for 150€. It was found that the original sub-chassis would not clamp to the Karousel, so it was replaced with a later model but nothing fancy. So far, I haven’t paid a penny. Still waiting to hear how much I owe for deposit/ sub-chassis, AT33Sa is on 5 months interest-free credit from PayPal, Karousel on 12-months interest-free credit. In the meantime in addition to the two resales mentioned above, I’ve sold loads of stuff on eBay raising 1,790€ in total, largely covering all my indulgences. Absolutely painless and sensible, selling what you no longer want or need for that which you do.
Likely they swapped in a traded in Cirkus sub-chassis. Maybe they won't charge you for it if they are a decent dealer.
My understanding is the new bearing has lugs that are positioned to fit the existing sub chassis screw holes. I assume it would not properly fit into those on the old sub chassis.
P buho Well Linn like always history repeats again when a second or third party put out an improvement certech with a subchasis then year after they come with their version mober came with an upgrade Of the bearing with a sub player was a improvement And for much less significant upgrade now Linn Came with karousel well let’s buy it and compare it I got it and mount it let’s compare my friend mober was impressive in all the aspects tight bass organic mids silk highs and noise wise non existent karousel A hair better in the bass area just a little more focus On the rest when side by side with the mover another Thing the was on the clock like a Swiss watch on speed on 33 and 45 karousel was not on 45 rpm so I sold my little Larousse to a friend of mine and keep My little mover and save money
