Linn sondek vs sme

Excellent post, casaross. Only thing that I would comment on is the the RB300 arm is not in the league of the Triplanar V11iii. One of the only drawbacks to the Linn, IMHO, is the fact that one is so very limited to which arm you can mount on it ( at present). The Ekos SE, while good, really isn't in the same league as the Triplanar either. I think that the basic design of the Ekos- and frankly the Naim Aro also, has long been surpassed. Note to Linn...PLEASE bing out an arm that will work on the table and yet can compete with some of the higher end designs of today. ( Like the aforementioned Triplanar, or the new Graham's--having the ability to adjust VTA on the fly and azimuth would be a great start)---and NO the Ekos SE isn't it! The basic platform deserves this, IMO.

Hi daveyf. I agree with you regarding tone arms. The LP12 suspension limits the tone arm selection and the RB300 is not in the league of a Triplanar; provided, however, that the RB300 is really, really good for the money. 

I am sure that Linn would love to produce an arm that is even better than the Ekos SE but who can tell when that may occur? And I am sure that Linn will have concerns with the mechanical integrity and rigidity of any arm that provides for adjustable VTA and azimuth. They have the resources to try and to test such designs so we will hope that they may succeed.

I have been able to discern differences in turntables on Youtube-at least those differences I'm interested in.  I'm not really listening for the sound, but the overall ability to convey the song to me.  I would listen to Pasinee for the LP12 SE, but be careful, as, at least on his channel, at times he used a Khan instead of Linn's top-plate.  The LP12 SE uses Radikal, Keel, Ekos SE, and Akiva(or Kandid). 

Well,  I auditioned an lp 12 yesterday.  I was quite impressed and pleasantly surprised.  I did bring my Benz ref s.  It did not sound very good on the Linn.  It sounds far better on the scout.  However when the Linn klyde cartridge was installed it sounded great.  I guess my big concerns with this table are obviously setup for one.  If this expert ever left town, the closest one is in Cleveland.  Also,  how dependent is Linn synergy on Linn components.  Cartridges, arms, phonostage, etc.  I was listening to an all Linn system.

The table I listened to was an updated Iinn with the radical power supply and the ekos 1 tonearm.  I also believe after listening that I am really starting to have a problem with Benz.  It did not track well on the Linn, almost the same tracking distortion as on the scout.  We were listening to Linda Ronstadt and nelson riddle.  The benz/ekos combo could not handle the dynamic passages and Linda's voice distorted terribly although tracked perfect with the klyde.  The distortion was similar as on the VPI scout.  We looked at the Benz under the microscope and it did seem to be wearing evenly.  Not sure if this distortion is caused by resonance from the wood body.