LP12- Power Supply- Need education

Millercarbon, the power cord made a difference only because you wanted it to. In reality it did not make any difference. Don't feel like I am picking on you. I sometimes have trouble separating psyche from reality. I have never used either turntable you have mentioned and can not speak to their performance. If you had problems with them then I would have to believe they were either not set up correctly or were not good examples of suspended turntables. Neither the SOTA or the SME are sexy turntables. The industry knows that if you make something look sexy enough many people will think they sound better. The reason most turntables are not suspended is because it is not an easy thing to do.
You either have to make it massive so that any additional mass (the tonearm) is trivial (SME) or create a system were in you can compensate for the mass of the tonearm (SOTA). Both turntables are far more accurate than the resolution of your brain to detect any speed variation flutter, wow or otherwise. All you are going to get out of a more massive platter is higher shipping cost and faster bearing wear. 
Very few upgrades result in "huge" improvements.  I think you minimize your opinion by describing variations this way. Whenever I hear "huge," "dramatic," "incredible," I automatically turn the comment off. 
I heard a demonstration comparing a Clearaudio Statement/Goldfinger combination with an SME 30/12/V12/Goldfinger combination and if there was a difference I certainly could not hear it neither could anyone else I talked to. None of us knew what was playing at any specific time until the end of the demonstration. 

Davey, I lived with LP12s for 10 years. The only thing I have nice to say about it is that it had a dust cover. The only reason I stuck with them is because until the SOTA Sapphire came along everything else was worse. You want to know how crappy the LP12 is? Get your self a SOTA Sapphire. 

daveyf

"There is, as usual, a ton of misinformation and pure ’BS’ being foisted by those who really have absolutely no clue about the sound of a well set up Linn LP12.
I love this from mijostyn...’listen to a Linn platter, you will be able to pick up radio stations’..ridiculous!"

The problem here is that some posters insist that what they hear and experience should be exactly the same as what you hear and experience. If it’s not, they insist the problem is with you, and not them or attributable to some other variable. There’s no way to reason with such folks. Beware the audio guru.

The LP12 is an extraordinary turntable - truly first class. It’s not my preference at all, but I surely wouldn’t criticize anyone who has chosen one for their system, especially if it’s one of the later versions. Linn has updated this turntable substantially over the years.

Saburo, thank you for the correction. I admit I was not familiar with the very latest Linn add-ons. Perhaps they’ve been inspired by Phoenix. My general point about the capacity for speed correction is still my recommendation, while I also recognize it can be a negative if not done well.

Mijo, perhaps the modern or updated versions of the Star Sapphire are speed stable, but my late 90s Series III was anything but.  At the time, it was all I had to judge by, and it had me thinking that it is the nature of vinyl not to be able to deal with sustained piano notes. Then I found out, after owning a succession  of other turntables, that the star sapphire was the absolute worst in that regard. Every belt drive, idler drive, and direct drive turntable that I have owned since about 2000 is superior to the Star Sapphire in speed stability, and its shortcomings are quite easily heard. I do respect SOTA as a company, and rumor has it they fixed their problem, whatever it is or was. Surely they’ve now fixed it with the adoption of the Phoenix Eng control system. But please don’t suggest that speed instability can’t be heard.