Thoughts on the Linn LP12 turntable

@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/

@no_regrets As can be seen in this thread, member mijostyn has some very absolute thoughts about the Linn LP12. The ONLY thing that I think we can take away from all of his posts that are in fact 'Absolute' is the fact that he has a) never heard a current LP12, even from a decade ago, never mind current.2) Is besotted with his SOTA, which while not a bad table, has nowhere near the resolving power of a current LP12 and 3) has ABSOLUTELY no problem putting his uniformed 2 cents worth into another Linn thread...IMO...:0)