Drubin's question is to the point, what could I replace an LP12 with and still be happy. I bought my present LP12 (replacing one I had purchased in 1985) in 1993 with just the basik power supply and LVIII arm. Nothing VPI sells could make me happy (not that they're bad; just a different set of sonic attributes that don't appeal to me as much). A Rega P5 doesn't measure up, but a P9 does. I could be very happy with a Rokson Xerxes.
During President Bush's plea for stimulus spending, and spurred on by Art Dudley's review, I bought a Well Tempered Record Player from Stanalog. Sonically, it was in some ways better than my LP12 (and an outstanding platform for Grado cartridges), but after two years I sold it, finding the operational ease of the Linn more to my liking (cueing lever, hinged dustcover you don't need to remove before play, no azimuth adjustment to fiddle with, easier and more repeatable ability to set tracking force and other tonearm settings), or maybe that was just 25 years of use and familiarity winning out.
Another nice thing about the LP12 is that it's still supported. Mine has in excess of 17,000 hours of play on it, and no matter how well machined the bearing, it's still subject to wear. For a modest price, the Cirkus kit basically makes my old turntable like new mechanically (the LVIII arm still tests out fine); add the recent Majik power supply (supposed to be better than the Valhalla, let alone my Basik) and new motor, and I'm likely good for another 17-20 years.
