Linn LP12......That good??

daveyf,

Fair point. But experience is everything. Mine was not good.

I knew after a month or two of using it that the Grace arm was the weak link in my system. I told my dealer this and he agreed. But the price of a new Linn arm and cartridge -- I wouldn’t buy anything else -- was prohibitive. My hobby dollars have to be spent wisely. Even you would have to agree that "fixing up" a thirty year old turntable is fraught with a limited return on investment. Fortunately, when I sold the system as separate entities, I broke even.

If someone gave me a brand spanking new Linn, with all the SOTA bells and whistles it could accommodate, I bet I’d be singing a different tune. Alas, that was not the case...

(P.S., and, it was single speed only, which precluded me from listening to my high-end 45 RPM LPs (and my youthful 45s as well...)

@bdp24 - perhaps you are correct as a matter of terminology, but it becomes like ordering non-decaffeinated coffee- an acoustic bass to distinguish it from the far more common electric bass in rock or blues? Yeah, I get it, but the instruments sound different, and I guess I'm just expressing my preference for the double bass, given the tone, etc. Ditto on the B-3. Ain't nothing like it. 

audiovideonirvana, I don’t doubt that your 80’s Linn didn’t sound that great....due to the weakness of the arm. Question is how much influence people have when they go on a public forum...and post opinions that the whole line of tables is just no good based on their highly "limited" experience. I see so many posters on this and other forums who jump to conclusion based on their " limited experience" with the LP12. None of these guys have ever heard a top level LP12, or have ever heard one that is correctly set-up and/or are comparing an old model ( many times from the 80’s--occasionally from the 90’s!--if they have heard the table at all!) to something that now floats their boat. Problem is that what now floats their boat is usually a table that cannot hold a candle to a top line Klimax LP12!
BTW, how many other tables can you say this about...after "thirty years" the option of "fixing up" ( whatever that means to you) is an option for the table. Try saying that with a thirty year old VPI!! You cannot even update most VPI’s to the current level after a few months, LOL. Oh, I forgot, they have a new version out now, leaving the old model to collect dust!
The one thing I do agree with you on is when you say..." If someone gave me a brand new Linn, with all the SOTA bells and whistles it could accommodate, I bet I’d be singing a different tune"!!!! You bet you would buster!!!

We are our experiences. That's all I can say.

However, if someone on this marvelous forum wants to gift me a new, fully tricked out LP12, I'll be happy to publicly eat my words... :-)