linn sondek tt


Does anybody still buy this? I just noticed many of their old dealers are gone.i wonder why?
theoriginalthor1
I do think the Sondek is a great table when it is set up correctly.  I have come to find out that the dealer I went to passed away and believe me, he knew what he was doing.  He was a great guy, probably one of the most thoughtful and engaging of all the dealers I have met.  I liked to table. the table setup was probably around 18K.  It was a deep stage but it did sound somewhat colored but very pleasing to the ear.  I was actually going to buy an LP 12 and he was even thinking of selling me his ekos 2 with it.  However when I came home and listened to the scout. i was a little shocked.  I attribute it to the unipivot arm on the VPI but certain things did sound better on the VPI to my ears and my ears may not be as good as yours but I could not understand the large price tag.  Also the bass was definitely not as good as on the 1200G.  I still would get a LP12 if I could find one at a decent fair price for what you are getting.  I might have been more interested if that dealer was still here.  4 hours for a tune up is a long drive both ways.
@tzh21y   What was the rest of the system when you heard the LP12 ..and with what cartridge? What arm was on the LP12 and mounted on the VPI? Same cartridge on both tables?
the arm was an Ekos 2 and the system was top of the line Linn.  The scout had a unipivot arm on it and that may attribute to the difference as it has a more wide open sound, not as accurate as the ekos but different.
 @tzh21y  The old Linn cartridge would go a long way to explain why you heard what you did. Scantech made Linn cartridges years ago...and currently make their Kandid cartridge ( which is a very nice cartridge). Unfortunately, the old models from decades ago, leave a lot to be desired. 
Also, I am no fan of the Linn speakers and amps, they are typically veiled and not that resolving. Therefore, the end result would probably be like you described;but I can tell you, with the table and arm set up correctly, plus a great cartridge, like a current Lyra, the table sounds nothing like you described...and easily betters the VPI and the Technics. IMHO, there really is no contest.
The context is very important here, and unfortunately what you heard is not what a top of the line LP12klimax truly sounds like.