Linn LP12......That good??

Remember if you bought everything from LP12 ,Lngo,circus upgrade etc etc the whole rig would to out at $10K.Buy a used LP12 ans get a GOOOD TURNTABLE TECH!!!I have a 1983 LP12 with Grace arm and a Grado \$200 Gold cart I'd sell for $700.It works fine.Get mine or somebody elses and pick and choose which upgrades are worth it and which aren't.I used tork for a dealer who added Linn after I left so I could get the upgrades for cheap.But I have a $5K VPI and if anything am thinking of scaling back to a smaller VPI deck.It's not that I don't like sprung tables (it's an old wives myth that you have to re-adjust your Lin n every month-there as satbe in tune up and staying that way as the others youmentimed.For me the VP choice was based on their arms which allow qiuick tube/cartidge swaps.
G'luck
Chazzbo

George, if it sounded thin there was a problem with the setup and/or the associated components. I own Linn, VPI, Oracle and
Nottingham and use them all. The VPI TNT is the best of the bunch but the Linn is a wonderful table. IT DOES NOT sound thin.

Ngeorge;

The Linn with all its upgrades (especially the Lingo) remains one of the most musical sounding tables available. Its perceived top notch performance is no hype.

Linn Sondek Lp12 is that good.
And when you consider the seemingly endless upgrade path it is not a bad way to go. I have had a Linn Lp12 deck since '83 and have upgraded along the way like Lugnut. Do I think about changing decks? Not really. I listen to a lot of other tables and then I come back home to the Linn. You would have to pry it from my cold dead hands. Are there better decks? Sure! But for me the Walker Audio Proscenium Gold Signature is out of reach and would show up the Linn but at three to ten times the price depending on upgrades… I guess it's all where you want to go with it. There are a lot of great tables out today; in 1983 the Linn was arguably one of the best with the most promising future so I spent my money and wisely. Cheers!

illenema1: The high-endaudio.com guy (Arthur Salvatore) is full of hot air and VERY dubious opinions, at least as judged by my ears. Anyone who takes what this guy says as credible without verifying it with personal experience is a fool. Sorry to be so blunt, but it is simply true.

Now on to the broader point. As people have said, you really can't talk about an LP12 without specifying *what* LP12 you are talking about, e.g., what power supply (Lingo, Valhalla, Basik), what bearing (cirkus/non-cirkus), and of course what arm. The other thing to keep in mind is that these are not "plug and play" devices. How they sound varies radically depending on whether or not they are set up properly.

My own theory about the number of LP12 detractors is that many of them have only heard older tables, and often ones that have been poorly set up at that. If you plan to buy a used table on ebay, set it up yourself in your home , and then just start to spin records without giving the matter any more attention, you are probably much better off buying a Rega. Unless you are a talented analog geek with a lot of LP 12 experience - take a bow Pat (Lugnut) - it is going to be sonically miles away from what it can and should sound like. Most of us need a Linn dealer or Linn tech to make these things sing, especially if it is older and has been sitting in someone’s closet for the past ten years.

Narrod, thanks for your comments. A man who owns and uses 4 different tables has opinions that need to be heard!