Thoughts on the Linn LP12 turntable

We sold them when they were new in the 1970's.  They were VERY fussy and bouncy and took forever to set up.  Not BAD, mind you, in sound, but when Technics came out with direct drive, well, some customers still liked their 12's, but many of my people went to Technics and were very happy.  Some of the inexpensive ones did not sound as good as the 12's, but the better ones were clearly much easier to deal with and set-up and actually USE, plus they sounded better, so they won out.

There were other TT's that we sold that were good as well--LUXMAN comes to mind, but belt drive tables have inherent issues that DD tables do not.  Of course, not all DD tables are created equally, so check it out IN YOUR ROOM with the arm+cartridge+cartridge pre you use to find what works best for YOU.

As for current Sondek prices, well, as a dealer, I would be VERY happy to sell you one, right?  How many would you like?

Cheers!

They’ve been around since the late 70’s and other then power supply and a few other minor changes (IMO) are relatively unchanged. 

That alone is a high praise, but minor changes, not really.

Everything is changed, plinth, base, bearing, spindle, sub platter, suspension, sub chassis, motor, power supply, plus more.

There was i time when i nearly pulled the trigger but the Pink won, did not regret it.

I think some of the Linn bashing above is well ioff base, but it is old (and as noted older units are inferior to later units) and like any market leader, was never the best at its price-point.  Logic, Pink Triangle and myriad others were superior for less money with suspended designs. I still have three belt drive, suspended tables. Lin is #3.  Both my Logic and AR (or, well, it was an AR once) are superior.

The latest direct drive tables with insanely massive platters (flywheels) are very very good, and have superior speed accuracy at least.

Chepaer tables out there today, i will wager, are inferior.

OMG. I have owned an LP12 with a Basic LVX since 1983, and it has been in daily use since then, only stopping twice for repair/upgrade. Currently a Lingo 1 and an LP Gear AT95SA. Still enjoyable, and my 66 year old brain gets pleasure from the sonics. This turntable has never been fussy, it has moved with me 3 times. The rest of my kit is a timeline of Linn, Aktiv Keilidhs, Akurate Kontrol and AV5125. 

It is astonishing that so many vinyl listeners are so stridently negative about ONE product. What drives this? 

My habits have changed, so most of my listening is through streaming, but my LP12 will stay with me until...

"... perform at levels commiserate with their cost..."  Commiserate. Hah! Great typo!