A LP12 owner elsewhere has commented that he replaced the springs in his LP12 with 3 X “Taica Gel Bushings B-1” (what some call mushrooms) for less than US$70. He comments that the sound quality has been transformed and the susceptibility to footfall and vibration essentially cured entirely. Apparently, the whole process is easily doable and reversible and has no downsides except that it could affect resale value. He also commented that these benefits were very clear to him and to the many others who have also done this.
This interests me, but just highlights my lack of knowledge. I do know that well over 100,000 LP12 have been made in the last 50 years or so, but I don’t know how successful any non-Linn mods have been.
Could LP12 owners who read this tell me if they: -
A. Have made this change and endorse the very positive comments made above.
B. Have made the change but have different views on its effect.
C. Have made the change and disliked the effect.
D. Have not made the change due to no dealer being willing to help.
E. Have not made the change for a different reason.
F. Have never heard of these things.
Spending time telling me or us that all I should not mention turntables, that all turntables are awful, that LP12s are uniquely bad or that they once met a person who has heard a turntable and didn’t like it may not be the best use of your time.
Count me as E, “Have not made the change for a different reason”.
I’ve always disliked the cultishness that surrounds the LP12, even though I’ve owned one for over 35 years. The top plate seems like the best illustration of this. In order for it to work correctly, the installer must bend it over their knee, just so, to ensure the perfect fit with the plinth. Surely there’s a better solution out there?
About a decade ago I tried three different LP12 tweaks, the Tiger Paw Khan top plate, the sKale counterweight, and a mat whose name I forget. In all cases, these components were initially impressive, and addressed some perceived shortcoming of the Linn. But over time I felt that they took something away, that the whole was less than the sum of the parts. All three are long gone from my 'table; my sKale is a high-end paperweight.
I still like that there are people out there willing to spend time and money exploring ways to improve the LP12. It may be that mine is now at a level that its shortcomings - and they’re real - no longer bother me, and so I’ve lost interest in taking a punt on the tweak du jour. If something comes along that I can audition at my leisure e.g. an accessory I could borrow from my dealer for a week, then I’d be open to checking it out but, for the most part, I’m happy to live in ignorance.
I’m in the ‘E’ category. I’m aware of at least some of the LP12 non Linn mods, including the mushrooms. While intrigued to a certain extent, I prefer to stay with the Linn in-house upgrades. This attitude probably displays a conservative and sceptical element in my character.
Thanks for the first few responses, and for the patience of the few here who have commented clearly on this multiple times before.
As others have pointed out, this is hardly a new question, but the advocates seemed previously to be small in number but large in ability to post positively. It has been suggested that that is an unfair or erroneous impression, hence my posting. So is this a fringe interest or a quiet revolution?
When I have got answers from 3 sites and crossed out any double-counting, I’ll have some idea of how the numbers actually look.
For me, the reason is that every time I have heard an LP12 with some non-standard chassis components it has lost some of the signature sound balance of the LP12. If others want to go for mushrooms or other mods and think it is an improvement that is fine with me. Often it is not about being better or worse but about what sounds better to you. The main thing is whatever spec or variety of modified LP12 you have, it is correctly set up to get the best out of it.
I guess I’m an E as well Nick.
I chose to stabilise my whole system with an isolation platform and therefore removed all external vibration influences from my Linn’s environment.
Definitely more expensive, but a solution that benefited the whole system.
Not an answer as such, but are they expensive and is it a mod that can be done yourself? If not too expensive and yes, then it is something that could be tried yourself, or with the help of a diy oriented friend if not that way inclined yourself. When I had a Thorens TD150, which was near identical to LP12, I once changed the springs myself, and, which was not difficult. (But just for new Yjorens springs with standard dampers, not a novel product.
Only if your both skilled AND brave enough to take a screw driver to a precision piece of equipment worth thousands of pounds🫣
I’m not even convinced I’m brave enough to turn mine upside down…
My attempt at going springless didn’t use the ‘mushrooms’ in question, instead used a second set of Linn grommets (see pic), so not exactly comparable. However, it was tried more to get a sense of what is gained and lost by losing the suspension.
The foremost gain for me was the improvement in pitch stability. I don’t think I’ve ever heard any LP12 sound as rock solid with decaying piano notes, for instance. PR&T also moved up a notch, with somewhat more distinct leading edges to struck or plucked notes. So far so good.
The downside for me was that it all started to become a distraction to the point where I was listening to the technical aspects of the music, rather than just enjoying the performance.
One good thing did come from the experience in that I can now better aim to tune the sprung deck to maximise pitch stability, with less emphasis on getting the ‘bounce’ to look perfect.
I am a E, and am happy with my 1986 model LP12 which was claimed by my Linn dealer, to have been personally tuned by Ivor Tiefenbrun when he visited Perth. So for this reason I need to keep it original.
I have 3 LP12’s running. One is stock and of the other two one has VP Springs and the last has these mushroom things (might be a different brand). The table with the mushrooms was susceptible to footfalls (living room/not in my main system) and that is only reason it has them.
Mushrooms sound IMHO - Bit more forceful presentation (drive) but less subtlety and ‘magic’. What came to mind after installing them was that it made the table sound ‘a bit more like a Rega’…
These mushrooms really helped with footfall issues I was having but I don’t expect I will put them in any of my other tables.
I also installed a set in a co-workers table as he found with his older age the LP12 too bouncy to operate with less than perfectly unflinching hands. He loved how it made the table feel to interact with and also loved the sound just fine.
Other than the arm, which obviously needs locking up/protecting, I am not convinced that an LP12 is as fragile as seems to be popular belief! Its very basis is simple, precision engineering that is actually pretty robust, though maybe it depends what aftermarket tweaks have been added on, of which I have no more than passing awareness. But whilst personally I am happy to take apart and reassemble everything from central heating boilers to hedge-trimmers to electronic gear to fiddly delicate things though I might hesitate with a valuable watch, confident that they will work properly afterwards, it is not for everyone, and anyone doing needs to take due care, and must take their own responsibility for their own work.
Nick, I’m in the F category too. My LP12, ex-demo from Russ Andrews in Edinburgh in 1985, has been carted around the country at various times in all sorts of cars,
with no detriment. Indeed, I recall when I purchased the TT the guys at Russ Andrews described the turntable as extremely robust.
The LP12 was recently serviced at Loud and Clear Glasgow, with a new Dynavector MC cart fitted. All perfect, 40 years on! I wouldn’t mess around under the bonnet.
That’s the main benefit to be gained from eliminating the springs, there is no way you are going to get optimal pitch stability from an LP12 with the springs in place, as the whole sub-chassis/arm board assembly is constantly starting to rotate with the platter and bouncing back. Linn’s solution is proper tonearm cable dressing, an approach as impractical in practice as it sounds in theory.
The other big benefit comes from replacing rubber with silicone, which is a material widely accepted to be more effective at damping and isolating vibrations. With the rubber grommets/steel springs in place vibrations from the motor and sub-chassis propagate to the top-plate, plinth, and baseboard, circulating with relative ease across the entire assembly. You can either tweak and voice those vibrations like Linn does with their uber expensive upgrades, or mitigate them at the source by improving isolation with the affordable silicone bushings.
