I've been fascinated by the LP12 for 39 years. This fascination began when I was in my early 20's and was loaned one by a customer. It did "something" to the music. I had an Ariston RD11 at the time. On the face of it these were pretty much the same turntable. But did they sound the same? No Sir they did not. And I had to figure out why and I wanted to add this product to our store.
It was a while before I could convince LINN to give us the product because we were a new and untried business. That took 4 years.
Linn launched the LP12 in 1973. It was their first and their most successful product. Since 1973 they have sought to improve every aspect of it, using new developments in technology and internal investment.
“Triggers broom.
What do you want that for?”
This is something that people say to us about the LP12. They say it because Linn have continued to develop and improve the turntable and decided to offer those upgrades to their existing customers. This means that a customer who bought an LP12 in 1973 can have it brought up to current specification if they so wish. And Linn have developed almost all components in the deck. Hence the “Triggers broom” I guess.
The key point here is “if they so wish” and none of the upgrades “need” to be done. Even old decks continue to run and sound good, and of course we continue to service them, even the earliest ones. Linn built them properly and had confidence in their design. Enough to keep investing in its development and to lift the performance ceiling.
So whilst the turntable looks the same; it has undergone dramatic improvements that have pretty much covered every component, as Linn have researched better ways to do things, put them into production and unusually allowed it to be retrofitted to older decks. No other manufacturer does this and we think it deserves to be celebrated.
Another criticism is “they should have got it right in the first place”. I’ll respond by saying the modern road cars are immeasurable superior to old road cars. Some of that is performance, some is reliability and some is safety. It is engineering improvements and continued investment in R&D which drives what is possible forward. F1 developments wind up in family saloons. Whilst nothing diminishes the outstanding nature of some of these earlier cars; they were the “best they could be” at the time of their release. But they have since been surpassed.
The LP12 In simple terms
· The LP12 plinth is a picture frame.
· The top plate fits on top and the motor is fixed to the top plate.
· Underneath it is the bottom board and feet.
· The power supply, suspension and subchassis are in between. It uses a floating suspension (hung from the top plate by springs). The arm and cartridge is fitted to this.
The design is not unique, far from it. But the continuous support and development is.
Linn manufactures 3 “package” versions of the LP12. They do this to give customers an understandable route into the product and in their usual good, better, best approach.
Majik is the most basic but it has the Karousel bearing and Krane a “made for Linn” arm and an MM cartridge. It offers the best mechanical parts of the turntable. The biggest improvement to Linn over the years has been the bearing development and the Karousel is the best bearing Linn have ever developed.
Selekt adds a Kore subchassis, an external power supply called the Lingo IV, an improved, Linn built arm Arko and an MC cartridge.
Klimax adds the Keel SE subchassis, Radikal power supply, Ekos SE, their reference arm and a superior moving coil cartridge. It also has, built into the base, Urika - a high quality phono stage which is also powered by the Radikal power supply. There are two levels of Radikal power supply; the standard Radikal and the Machined version which has twin Utopik power supplies; one for the motor and one for the Urika. This represents the pinnacle of performance from the LP12.
Linn are a precision engineering company and as you go through the range you get greater precision. This means more music is lifted from the groove and less is lost. LOI (loss of information) is the principle which almost all turntables are built on.
Engineered precision means less loss and improvements in the signal to noise ratio. More signal and less noise.
Upgrading & stepping outside the 3
There’s no one size fits all. However there are various degrees of improvement and some are bigger than others. And we have learned what gives the best return and the most consistent improvements.
It may surprise you to learn that most of the LP12’s we sell are not Majik, Selekt or Klimax. Instead they are turntables we build to match a customer requirements and budget. We hold lots of parts in stock and many of these are traded in as customers upgrade. That enables us to build a higher spec of turntable for less money than it would cost new. Each component is of course tested and supplied with a warranty. We supply complete LP12’s from £1500.
When advising customers we’ve found the best performance is made by upgrading motor unit first. LINN has always maintained that improvements that are mechanical make the biggest difference.
Mechanical first
So when upgrading an existing deck, or building one for a customer; the plinth, the main bearing and the subchassis are the place to start.
Bearing First
Subchassis second
Tonearm third
Power supply fourth
Cartridge
This is not the ONLY way to upgrade but it makes the most sense in terms of performance/value for money.
Electrical Improvements
These are the next upgrade to invest in.
Basik, Lingo 4 and Dynamik 2 are the three power supplies on offer. The second two offer both 33 and 45 rpm. Lingo 4 and Radikal also require a new motor which is included in the price and is fitted at the same time. Better motor/power supplies offer greater pitch accuracy and generate less noise to get back into the playback system.
We build all the LP12’s we supply. Just as we strip and rebuild turntables we’re servicing or upgrading. So we know and understand them intimately and we have learned what works best.
A full service on an LP12 is £100. We can also take this opportunity to report on the condition of the belt and the service and to suggest possible upgrades if there is interest. As part of the service we clean, lubricate, tighten and replace springs and grommets with the latest type. We always finish by listening to ensure the turntable sounds as it should.
We're happy to build, service or fix LP12's. Come talk to us so we can make owning an LP12 a reality. And it might cost you a lot less than you think.
Here is a breakdown of all the upgrades.
Bearing
Early gold bearing
Black bearing with white liner
Black bearing with black liner
Cirkus bearing
Karousel bearing
Subchassis
Pressed Metal
As above but glued
As above but thicker
Majik
Kore
Keel (now replaced by...)
Keel SE
Tonearms
LV Basik
LVX
LVX Plus
Basik plus
Ittok
Ekos
Ekos 2
Akito
Ekos SE Current
Krane current
Arko current
Baseboards
Hardwood
Melamine
Metal
Metal with feet (Trampolinn)
Urika - Trampolinn with inbuilt MC Phono stage.
Armboards
Chipboard
Laminated
Power supplies
Original
Valhalla
Lingo
Lingo 2
Lingo 4
Lingo 4 with new motor and tacho.
Radikal
Radikal 2
Radikal Machined versions 1, 2 and now 3.