Thoughts on the Linn LP12 turntable

LP12 is like a traditional tube EL34/Kt88 tube. Some dismiss it as old school while others consider it musically charming and relevant. 

I have heard LP12 sound very ordinary and very awesome.

Many modern TTs have very low (CD like?) noise floor and expansive soundstage, pin point imaging and big dynamics. Thats their achievement which is to be applauded. But do they represent music the way it was intended by the musicians? A lot of them just fall flat on this ground alone. An AMG Viela V12 sounds dead boring🥱. A Dohmann Helix takes pride in its all out effort for isolation, but play some Michael Jackson on it and see if the "king of the pop" feels like he is taking hou back in time to groove again. Just doesn't happen! All the imaging and soundstaging specificity is there to wow the listener as long as that's what the recording is all about. A Kronos TT sounds like a CD with better dynamics. Dry harmonics and discrete flow. I can go on and on. I have heard a lot of these TTs and it is extremely disappointing what today's one man designer voiced equipments sound like. 

Before some consider me as a LP12 fanboy, my favourite reference TTs are Kondo Ginga, Hartvig, SME 30/12, EMT 927, Micro Seiki 5000 and 8000 etc 

If I list out all the modern TTs which suck at keeping the integrity of the music, the list will be very long.

@ghdprentice , While it is true that Sota had some production difficulties due to Covid and their revised Condor controller has a programing issue the Sota Sapphire still is significantly better than the LP12. If you go to the Nova with Vacuum you get a seriously better turntable. The Cosmos Vacuum is a turntable that is, from a performance perspective as good a any of the above turntables except the Dohmann (once it has a vacuum platter. Externally, it is a more rustic design which is easier and less expensive to make keeping the price down. I personally do not understand why people buy a turntable to look at. Inside that rustic interior is a very sophisticated design. I'm afraid you bought 50 year old mythology. If you get a Sota the LP12 will wind up on the used market in a week. I suggest either a Reed, Schroder, Kuzma or SME arm.😉

Pani, I hadn’t heard of the Ginga, so your comment led me to look it up. Its design concept channels Mikro Seiki, if MS had been allowed to evolve for a decade or two. The TTs you like by and large could not be more different from the LP12.

My father in law had an LP12, and an older Thorens. I got to use them between 1976 and 1985. He has classical LPs stashed away in every spare space in a large house, and quite a lot of reel-to-reel tapes, but despite all that he was quick to move to CD when it came out. I learned to avoid too much fancy suspension, which is why I now have two SME 10s. But he did introduce me to Quad, which stuck, and B&W active speakers, which did not.

@dogberry 

I learned to avoid too much fancy suspension

When it comes to the main issue with the LP12, you've hit the nail on the head!

Why oh why did they chose to suspend the subchassis on a flimsy piece of polished aluminium?

To make matters even worse, a piece of aluminium only supported on 3 of its 4 sides!

Then to seal the deal, why not attach an MDF armboard to the subchassis with three meagre screws?

[Yes, I know the Keel fixes this, but at what cost? A mere £3000 if you're asking. Meanwhile it does nothing to address the 3 sided support issues].

Finally, for the cherry on top, why don't we use the tonearm cable to keep the notoriously wibbly wobbly subchassis aligned and free from drifting?

Genius.

Is not the word.

You can blame Linn or, if you like, Ariston. Although to be fair, the Ariston RD 11 Superior does away with the separate armboard of the standard RD11 and appears to show a closer resemblance to the AR turntable setup.

Either way, the LP12 illustrates a shockingly bad way to design a turntable suspension and as a consequence the LP12 gives suspended decks a very bad name indeed.

There are obviously far better suspended designs out there, the Alaphason Sonata to just name one.

https://loud-clear.co.uk/glasgow/shop/keel-lp12-subchassis/