Upgrade old LP12 or buy a new table??

Bryans,
Sounds as though you’re in pretty good shape. Maybe a visit to your Linn dealer for a tune up and have the Valhalla board checked out. Most all the comments to save the Lp12 and upgrade are with merit IMHO as it is a matter of what you can get for the money that will sound this good.

I would suggest a new Akiva cartridge by Linn. It is manufactured by Scan-tech who also offer the Lyra line of their own and indeed the Akiva is a well suited cartridge for your deck and arm. It is an obvious match. If you do not, you will need a competent phono amp. Linn’s Linto phono stage is excellent and the quietist phono amp I have ever heard. Linn has offered a handsome trade value on old Arkiv/Arkiva trade ins to the tune of about 1100.00 USD toward a Akiva. I went this route a couple of years ago by picking up an old Arkiv B on ebay for about 200.00 USD for trade with my dealer and have not regretted it for one minute since. Check out Stereophile’s Art Dudley review of this cartridge in which he makes the comments that it is one of the quietist cartridges for record surface noise that he has ever heard and if he could only have a monogamous relationship with phono cartridges for his Lp12, this (Akiva) would be the one to spend the rest of his days with. I would concur.

Linn upgrades to the Lp12 from Glasgow are said to becoming. My opinion is that the cost is outrageous and not competitive in the market place, not like upgrades in their past. Talk of a 5000.00 USD aluminum billeted replacement for the wood surround that we all have and thousands more for a new sub-chassis of some undisclosed material composite, and a refresh of the existing Ekos arm with even tighter tolerances and a material change on the arm tube, again for thousands more, doesn’t sound like anything I’ll be investing in.

I have had my Linn Sondek Lp12 since 1983 and still find it both competitive and a value today. Happy Listening!

You should upgrade your LP12. I have both the LP12/cirkus/trampoline/naim aro/old lingo owned since 1985 and also the VPI HRX. The HRX does sound better overall, but the LP12 is not chopped liver and sounds great. The naim ARO arm especially is world class. The superscout master is not going to sound better, just different.

Like Raul said, change to either an ARM or Ekos. dyna, Linn and ortofon cartridges go well with Linn's.

I agree with Ghunter. The LP 12 is a money machine, and every upgrade remembers me about the reanimation from a dead donk.
When yoo love it, ok, stay with it, when you can't hear a difference to better designs, great, stay with it, when you want something less coloured, check the market. Endless choices.

Like others have said or implied, it could be a matter of whether you like the Linn's performance overall. That is, when it is operating properly. I too have had the LP12 for years, since around 1984 or so. Recently, it was not sounding very good and was pretty unlistenable for me. However, a rebuild (new suspension) and having the Valhalla board repaired did the trick. Actually, the board was repaired and it was better, but I replaced it with a used Lingo anyway (which is better still).

Wanting something new or different is fine, but, IMHO, the Linn is still one of the best at getting the jest of the recording off of the disk. I could be wrong (and the LP12 is the only Linn I have ever owned, except for a K9 cartridge), but it's my current opinion. There are many others who swear by VPI, and Acoustic Solid is one I would check into if I lost my Linn.

Cheers for the New Year.
Glenn

I've wrestled with the same question for several years, also being a 20+ year owner of an LP12. I've started coming down on the side of upgrading the Linn, but it is as much out of a romantic attachment as anything else. The new Funk Firm upgrades look intriguing as hell. I think I'm emotionally opposed to the upcoming Keel upgrade as at some point, it stops being an LP12.
I still have the original Ittok arm along with the now twenty-something year old crappy arm wire. I think those might be first on my list.