Linn LP-12 compared to TW Acustic, SME, Nottingham

Tom - Did you compare the Nottingham to SME or TW Acustic? Also, how does the Nottingham compare to the Linn LP-12?

I own the LP12, cirkus/Lingo with Naim ARO arm. It is a great sounding turntable, however my VPI HRX and TW AC-3 are superior.
The most noticable area is in the scale of the music. the Linn is just smaller in every way, where the VPI and TW are both bigger, wider, deeper, higher and more dynamic.
The Linn has slightly smoother upper frequencies compared to the HRX.
The TW AC-3 is just a little better in most other area's.

I think Dgad used to own one of the high end Nottingham's and he has changed to TW-AC-3 and could not be happier.

personally I will never sell the Linn, as it was it that got me into music in a big way and 2nd hand prices are not really worth selling. And it still sounds good.

cheers

dg:

no, i did not make any comparisons as this was the one the dealer had and i was so blown away with it. i forgot to mention that set up as it is on my system, it has a monster soundstage, several of my friends have remarked about this. also, i don't use the wooden plinth, but place it right on the rack, the sound was much more together when i did that. someone commented that nott arms are not the best, maybe that humble rega 250 is a really good match for that unit and some of the upscale regas would match a higher level nott well.

dg, when I was purchasing my 1st TT, the two final choices were Raven One and Nottingham 294. Raven One sounded awesome, with authoritative bass and really fleshed out sound. (The carts I heard with it were SS Strain Gauge and Dynavector XV1S, on Graham Phantom.) I also heard Nottingham 294 with the 294 arm, with EMT JSD-6 cart. There wasn't that bass grip that the Raven One had, but there was a top-to-bottom fluidity of sound with the Nott 294 that was easier on the ears than the Raven One. (One caveat: please take these comments with a grain of salt, since I did not test these tables under identical acoustical situations.) If I had to make the same decision right now, I'd get the Nottingham 294, which costs less, and swap out the stock arm for a Moerch DP6 12" arm or something. Then you'd have a lot of cash left over to spend on cart or LPs. I understand that mine may be of the minority opinion, but there it is.

P.S. - incidentally, I ended up with La Platine Verdier with the terrazzo plinth. Suits my music & listening preferences better than the TW & couldn't be happier... but still to this day, I sometimes think if I'd gone with Nottingham 294/Moerch DP6 combo, I can't shake off the feeling that I could have come pretty close to the kind of liquid musicality I'm getting with my Verdier.

I have had an LP12 for about 15 years. Mine has the Cirkus, Ekos and Naim Armageddon PSU, and currently a Glider.

A couple of years ago I bought a Nottingham Ace Spacedeck for a second system to use with an SME IV I already had.

With the SME arm, the Spacedeck did not sound all that good, despite trying a number of different cartridges. I felt that the LP12 still slightly had the edge. However, about a year ago I bought a mint condition Micro Seiki MA 505 arm on a whim, thinking it would be a better match for my Koetsu (used with a 15g AT headshell and additional Micro Seiki counterweight). Tom Fletcher made an armboard for the Micro Seiki and I installed the arm on the Spacedeck.

The Spacedeck sounded much better with the Micro Seiki arm but I was still using the LP12 as my main turntable. It has taken me about a year to get round to doing some direct comparisons between the Spacedeck and the LP12. I should add that the Spacedeck is pretty much stock and untweaked. I use the Spacemat which it came with (which I prefer to using no mat or to the Mystic Mat, which I did not like), no external PSU, no heavy kit etc.

After doing direct comparisons, I am about to sell the LP12. The Spacedeck is so far ahead of the LP12 that it is not worth keeping. I had always thought of the LP12 as having a rich, organic midrange, but the Spacedeck has a sense of tonal fullness and richness that is far beyond the LP12. By comparison the LP12 sounds thin and artificial. The Spacedeck equals the LP12 in dynamics and speed, but adds a sense of three dimensional space and a full harmonic structure that the LP12 cannot match. Perhaps the combination of Ace Spacedeck, Micro Seiki arm and Koetsu is a synergistic one, but I highly recommend the Spacedeck over the LP12.

I should, however, add a couple of reservations. The Space Arm gets mixed reviews. I was not willing to take a risk on the Space Arm, which was why I went with the SME and then the Micro Seiki. The Spacedeck is good enough to support arms costing more than the turntable, and I have been contemplating something like a Kuzma Stogi Reference or Triplanar, although I'm not entirely convinced they would be an improvement over my Micro Seiki.

The upgrade options from the Spacedeck also get mixed reviews. Some people have suggested that the Heavy Kit, for example, robs the Spacedeck of some of its magic. Similarly, a few people feel that the Spacedeck is better than the more expensive Nottingham turntables, although these views seem to be held by a minority. For these reasons, I have not explored upgrading to the Hyperspace or Dais, although the temptation is there. For now the Ace Spacedeck sounds so good that I don't feel any compulsion to risk losing what I have by going further up the Nottingham line, although I will probably add a Wave Mechanic power supply.

In summary, I highly recommend the Spacedeck over the LP12. While adding something like the Keel might improve the LP12 to the point where it is competitive with more modern tables, bear in mind that you can buy *two* Spacedecks for the price of a Keel.