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

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.

I've have owned my LP-12 for 20+ years and have followed the upgrade path with Cirkus, Ekos, Trampolin II, and Lingo etc..  I started with the OC 9, then Benz Glider, to a Shelter 90x.  I have toyed with the idea of changing tables over the years but I have stayed focused on the the audio outcome evaluated with my ears and not the "on paper" technical stuff.  That said I have not experienced anything that provided a huge improvement in sound that was worth the additional financial outlay.  That said a Linn with a Keel has a Class A rating when I last read Stereophile as did tables costing far, far more.  I probably have attained 90-95% of what's possible so the cost of attaining the last 5%  just is no longer worth it to me.   The only reason for me to get a new table will be simply because I want one!

@xagwell  The cost of the last 10-15% is always much higher than the average in audio. Whether it is worth it is another question and only answered by the individual consumer. I would agree that with some of the Linn upgrades the cost is high compared to the result, but that can be said for just about everything in this hobby. Value for money is not, it would seem, high on most high end manufacturer's list. Not to say there are not a few companies that do offer value for money, but they do seem to be the exception, and not the rule, IME. 
Probably a big part of this issue, is that there simply isn't a big enough audience in the hobby to insure that through mass production an acceptable profit is realized; therefore leading to a maximization of profit per unit sold...which means the value for money equation is similarly negatively impacted. IMO.

Value for money is not, it would seem, high on most high end manufacturer's list. Not to say there are not a few companies that do offer value for money, but they do seem to be the exception, and not the rule, IME.
Probably a big part of this issue, is that there simply isn't a big enough audience in the hobby to insure that through mass production an acceptable profit is realized; therefore leading to a maximization of profit per unit sold...which means the value for money equation is similarly negatively impacted. IMO.

There is something called the Veblen Effect, where more expensive is often perceived as offering more value. This is common in high end products. An excellent example is Campagnolo, who makes bicycle components. During the 1970s a Japanese company called Sun Tour came up with a derailleur system than was better in every way than Campy units and because the former were built to a price formula rather than what the market would bear, were a lot cheaper than the latter and so found their way onto lessor expensive bike frames.


Part of the Veblen Effect is simply that more expensive doesn't mean its actually better. If you can find a piece priced to a formula rather than what the market will bear, you're likely to get a better deal. Technics is one example of that, and they built their new turntables in sufficient quantity that they are considerably less expensive than the competion that performs at the same level. Another way to think about this is what would a Technics SL1200 cost if built by a small company with only 4 employees, and maybe only in quantities of 10 rather than 1000? The answer is probably 'about 3-4 times more'...