LP 12 the Extreme Phono Way-First Impressions

Well..after weeks of e-mail discussions and sleepless nights, I took the plunge and submitted my LP12 for major surgery at the capable hand of Case Ng (Extreme Phono). My LP12 was a 2 year old table with Lingo and Ekos in great condition, but poorly set-up by a former Linn dealer who shall remain anonymous. The mods effected by Casey consisted of a carbon fiber/aluminum subshassis and armboard, a new silver phono cable of Casey's own design (more on this later), and tweaks to the suspensions (new rubber grommets are the only visible change). I also purchased a pristine second hand Arkiv B from Casey at the same time, which he installed on my table and tweaked for optimum VTA, tracking force, etc. Reproducing his settings was a snap since he provide accurate caliper measurements (accompanied by digital photos of how/where the measurements were taken) to accurately reproduce tonearm height and counterweight position. The patient stayed in residence for about 3 weeks, and returned in good spirits w/ no scars.

Although the cable is still burning in, it is time to post some first imressions after a listening session with four other Audiogoners. For reference, the table sits on a Neuance shelf atop a Phase 4 Mana rack. I listened first with rubber Bump On feet, then placed the table on Aurios MIB bearings (a major pain in the a....!). Phono preamp is the Linn Linto.

Well...there is no comparison. This is hands down the best music reproduction I've ever achieved at home. Every single aspect of the musical presentation improved in spades, solidly trouncing my revious analog set up and my Muse Model 9 signature. Soundstaging, air, bass articulation and depth, top to bottom tonal "integrity", retrieval of detail, micro and macro dynamics, and last (but not least) PRAT were all at a new plateau. What is utterly scary is that the tonearm cable is still a good 30 hours away from break-in..so this can only get better.

Casey's cable is EXTREMELY well constructed (finish is MUCH better than the Grahm IC-30 I owned briefly) with maniacal attention to detail. Like in the Hovland cables, Casey uses very low mass RCA's, though his are made entirely of silver. My only quibble is that my Linto's RCA jacks are a bit too short/thin to provide good ground contact..but this was easily remedied by tightening (slightly deforming) the RCA plus. I will be posting further impressions as the cable burns in, but the investment (to my ears) thus far appears VERY worhtwhile (especially considerng that my loss if I tried to sell my LP12 and purchase a more "modern" table would far exceed the cost of the mods)