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Possible turntable upgrade....

Hi All,

So it started as a simple, 'buy some new speakers' impulse. Well, that escalated quickly!

Now, I am looking at my turntable as the possible weakest link. Would love your help/advice/input/experience on whether it's time to give up on my old, beloved c.1980's Linn LP12 that I have had since the mid 80s. The deck has Lingo 1 and Cirkus/Valhalla upgrades of note.

Details: LP12 as above, Graham Phantom arm, Clearaudio Concerto cart.

System: Aesthetix Janus (brand new) pre, BAT 250SE (w BAT-PAK) amp. Tara Labs throughout (recent upgrade) including phono cables, Vivid B1 speakers (Tara The 2 cables).

So, it seems that the Graham Phantom may be too much arm for the Linn (been told Linn is better with a lighter arm) so should I upgrade the deck to build the analog around the arm and take it to the level of the Aesthetix/Vivids etc? Basically, is my money better spent on a new deck as opposed to trying to upgrade an old design such as the Linn? Is the Linn now the weakest link in my system? 

If so, recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I know tastes come into it etc but hopefully my choice of Vivids etc give an insight. Especially love to hear from anyone with a Graham Phantom arm. Price range: as low as possible to make the necessary difference, definitely under $10k. Preferably closer to $5k. Of particular interest (but little listening experience) would be Clearaudio and Transrotor. Open to all ideas. All positive input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all.  
denjer1
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,876 posts
 
Denjer

The best turntable we have found in 30 years of professional audio design and sales is the Merrill Wiliams Real 101.3

https://www.realturntable.com/

This table is a complete rethinking of the the problems in vinyl playback.

A turntable is a vibration dissipation system and must do two tasks:

Task Number One: is to isolate the groove from all the energy being fed into the system from the world, this includes any noise generated by the motor, and any airborne and or surface feed vibrations.

Task Number Two: is to take the extra contact energy being fed into the tonearm and dissipate that energy.

Task Number Three: is spin at precisily the correct speed.

The Merrill Wiliams REAL table is made out of rubber. The plinth is a composite of different rubber elasomers pressed into a dense energy absorbing layer.

The motor is isolated by rubber.

The support feet are isolated by rubber.

The outclamp is damped by rubber.

Event the main clamp is damped.

If you build your turntable to turn all excess energy into heat you are going to get a much cleaner sound.

This turntable is affordable and sounds absolutely remarkable.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Merrill Williams dealer, Rega and Notthingham dealers


denjer1 OP
45 posts
 
Interesting. Thank you. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
How is the Merrill TT isolated from the floor?
jperry
2,468 posts
 
I would purchase a different turntable. The Linn can be upgraded, but the upgrades are expensive and it is not a great match with your arm.

You are probably going to receive a number of suggestions, some good and some not as good.

My recommendations in your price range are 1. Get a rebuilt Garrard with a high quality plinth. 2. A Turntable from Dr. Feickert 

I have a rebuilt Loricraft Garrard with Woodsong plinth and it one of the best changes I have made.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Linn is the prime example of the suspended isolation approach to turntable design. With all suspended designs but especially with Linn the whole thing is tuned to vibrate a certain way. They talk about isolation but need a stable platform as much as anything so really its more tuned to vibrate. Naturally the arm and anything else you put on there, a mat a record clamp or even a record, becomes part of that vibrating package and has to be accounted for and tuned for. I looked into this a lot and listened to a lot of Linns and others and have been forever since very happy to have not followed this path.

The limitations and compromises you're seeing now with your table are among the many reasons I'm glad I didn't go that way. If you love the Linn sound then of course its all worth it. No different than the guy with the electrostatics or the SET or whatever. If you love it then you'll do whatever it takes to get the most out of it and it'll be worth it to you. If you can't say that though then yes that would make the Linn the weakest link.

The other design philosophy is massive, solid, suspensionless. Usually these fudge and use a suspension to some extent but not to the point where you start worrying about cartridge mass and the whole thing is floating and bobbing around every time you touch it. The dividing line, none of these type tables cares what arm or how heavy. The best give you complete freedom in arm choice.

That's the way I went. In contrast to the Linn which already is limiting your options this way you are free to get the most table you can possibly afford secure in the knowledge its a "forever" component which with your arm you will probably already be able to enjoy forever but if not then wow, you upgrade that arm you won't believe how it can be even better.

That's what I did. Was very, very happy with my Graham 2.0 for many years. Eventually got to the point I couldn't stop thinking about all those extra connections in the very fragile micro-voltage signal path. Upgraded to Origin Live Conqueror, so much better its more of a new realm than upgrade. 

Which involved not one moments thought given to how much that arm weighed, if it would fit my table, etc. Because my table instead of being a limiting factor is wide open to upgrades.

Hope this helps.
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