Is a Linn Sondek LP12/Lingo/Ekos with a Cirkus update, the last turntable I’ll ever buy?

@cd318  Like I stated in my prior post, I'm sure this is falling on deaf ears, but I would like to know how you know so much about what is, or is not, happening at Linn? Particularly when it comes to Gilad?
When Ivor first designed the table, it clearly could be bettered, over time. Linn have always offered a path to an improved version...how many other table manufacturer's from that era, or even today, offer this same aspect. Please do not tell me that there were perfect turntable designs out there back in the day that needed no upgrades...

I don’t want to pile on top of the heap of LP 12 naysayers, but I guess I will in a way. Regarding the metaphor comparing the LP 12 to a Ferrari, I would say it is more apt to compare the LP 12 to a Morgan sports car. Still doggedly being built in the same way it was built, out of wood, in the 1930s, but with occasional upgrades to make it faster and stiffer. Yet for those who adore it, Morgan sports cars continue to give a great deal of fun and pleasure. That’s the only thing that counts in the end.

@lewm  Interesting perspective...now what is your analogy to the many tube amps that are on the market?

Personal experience- any newer Linn by which I mean made in the last 25 years is a pretty stable machine that is not prone to go out of adjustment.

Setup is key and unfortunately, at least in the US, competent Linn people are few and far between. I’m lucky that I live within an hour of a legit Linn expert.

As as far as maintaining the table- bringing it in once every five years for a tune up seems pretty reasonable to me.

Are there better tables? Sure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that those better tables really are any more enjoyable. The reality is that the LP12 really isn’t any one table- it’s a family of tables.

Davey, I meant no disrespect to Linn or those who love the LP12.  Nor is the analogy to a Morgan sports car in any way meant to be insulting; I just thought it was a better metaphor among auto metaphors, compared to using Ferrari as the paradigm.  As for an analogy to tube-based electronics, you have a point, I suppose.  I'm fine with that.