I need some turntable guidance

@mijostyn You owned two LP12’s..and tried everything to get them to sound better??? Like what? I strongly suspect the issue you had was like so many other naysayers, who really shouldn’t own a table that needs to be set up CORRECTLY like the Linn--and that is...you never had it set up properly in the first place...and then you tried yourself to adjust it...Yikes!

BTW, how long ago did you ’own’ the two tables? Too bad you have an opinion now that isn’t what many other  current Linn adherents have...including myself. BUT, it is an opinion that is far too common...and since your experience in the distant past is not what you liked...then you lump all of your future posts about the table into this experience. Instead, perhaps make a little effort to go and hear a CORRECTLY set up new model with some music that you know...just a thought!!!

No noromance you are fooling yourself. When I evaluate anything having to do with audio I am careful to place the evaluation within the context of my physiologic and psychological weaknesses. You obviously have no idea were your weakness are which means I have no interest in your opinion. You refuse to admit that the idler wheel drive has all but disappeared. High end manufacturers favor belt drive for a reason. 
Uberwaltz, everyone can enjoy any stuff they like for any number of reasons. Wonderful. Everyone is entitled. I am not denigrating you I am simply stating a simple fact that idler wheel tables rumble more so than belt drive. Apparently that is not an issue for you and the 401 has other qualities that you like. Great. But turntables do not have drive. The music may have drive. Good turntables just spin at a constant speed and hopefully sound like nothing. 
Nothing I said was oversimplified or generalized. If you really want to dig into specifics just download a book on neurology and look up the section on hearing. You do not listen with your your ears. Your ears are totally dumb microphones. They send signals down cranial nerves #8 (vestibulocochlear nerve) into the cerebellopontine angle where it then breaks into several pathways. Depending on what the sound is it will be interpreted by specific areas of the brain. Speech is interpreted in Wernicke's area in the left temporal lobe (if you are right handed). If Wernicke's area is damaged by a stroke the person will be able to talk fine but will not understand a thing. That is called a receptive aphasia. When doing brain mapping when the person is listening to speech Wernicke's area lights up. Interestingly when listening to music the whole brain lights up! Your brain is doing the listening and your intellect is interpreting what your brain is hearing. What you brain tells you is not only based on physiology but decades of training, learning and built in instincts. What your intellect hears can be modified by all of that. Try listening to Indian music. Most of us will wrinkle up our nose and say YUK. But Indian folks love it because their brains were trained to like it ours were not. God knows what John Coltrane was hearing. Our brains are very tricky devices far beyond the understanding of our intellects. 
This is why you get so many varied opinions about what something sounded like. Then there is ego. Which is often on display here.

Mike

Hey doc, you sound like the man who cut the tire to see how it worked. 
I'm taking the high road on this and bowing out as you are saying things I did not state. #gishgallop

@mijsotyn  What you state about how we hear and interpret what we hear is all very accurate. If you happen to hear a table that you don't like, because your musical expectation bias is not allowing you to hear what it is that the table brings, this is also very much accurate...in your belief ( after all, we ALL have musical biases). Doesn't necessarily mean that all folks will hear the same thing. I think that when it comes to the Linn table, there is a consensus that the new Klimax model sounds very good...and is close to SOTA. Whether you personally agree with that is another thing entirely. BUT to come on a forum and post absolutes like you did about the Linn table...without the additional aspect inserted into the post...that this is in YOUR OPINION..seems to me a little over the top.As noromance stated, you were projecting...and not making that clear to the reader. IMHO.

Set-up is critical.

A well set-up mid price rig will outperform a poorly set-up state-of-the-art.

That suggests buying from a dealer who is really good at set-up. They exist, but you have to search. Identify them by asking about azimuth, VTA, protractor, etc. You should make yourself familiar with the terms first, obviously.

Then, audition until you really like the sound. I like air-bearing TT and tonearms. Just my few cents’.