Well, having just Klimaxed (predictable giggle) except for my Rad having an Akurate case I have stayed all Linn. I knew the costs and did it over a period of time. Loving it and no regrets. I have never been interested in 3rd part upgrades tbh. It does sound fabulous though…
Stu
I forgot the wires. I also swapped the standard silvers for Chord SSA.
So is it possible to end up with an LP12 that’s not made by Linn at all?!
I’m not sure if anyone makes alternative felt mats nor the spindles/ platters! Then again…!
Mine still has the above Linn parts; and I have a Linn radikal power supply; and original Keel for Aro; and perspex lid c/w hinges; the springs may also be (new) original Linn items. Of course the whole appearance remains Linn!
Peter
Located in Cheshire, UK. In terms of budget I don’t particularly want to go beyond £3.5k and not keen on DIY work either (certainly not on a piece of kit costing that much).
Currently my thinking is:
Cirkus,
Kore,
Basik power supply (unless getting a Lingo second hand is better?)
I am not quite sure regarding the arm though. Some say that the Majik arm is just a badly/cheaply made Jelco arm and I certainly am not keen on the Project arm in offer either. I do have a Rega P3 (2016 version) with a RB330 arm but I believe that is 222mm as opposed to the 210mm which is the correct length?
I have been looking at the Sondek Majik package but not sure if that is better than buying a used LP12 (with corner bracing and upgarding it.
Great topic. I have lusted after one for almost 40 years. I looked at a Sondek fully loaded in 1981 for $1200 but bought the Rega Planar (changed out the S Shaped arm) with the Grace arm and some cartridge (Grace F9 as I recall) for $800. I just could not stretch any farther for the LP12. I have never looked at it seriously again. I have never had a dealer nearby. I upgraded my Planar3 to the RB300 and VDH Frog and then stepped up to the Verdier in 2000. Would love an LP12 today but I am still miles away from a dealer. The Verdier (Moerch DP with Lyra Kleos SL) sounds pretty swell. I think my vinyl journey stops here.
Skip
My first record player was a rega planar 3 - this was my introduction to hi-fi and the sound quality completely amazed me. A couple of years later, late 1980’s, I swapped out the rega for an lp12 and this was probably the biggest upgrade I experienced in my hifi journey.
In a way I am lucky to have tip top lp12 dealers within reach - I still choose to drive up to Leicester when I remember that a service may be due. Now I am no exemplar (quite the opposite!) but I phoned them not long before Christmas and asked if they had any record of when my lp12 was last serviced. The answer was a rather guilt inducing 9 years!! Admittedly I don’t spend a large amount of time listening to my hifi but I still believe that once set up by someone who knows their beans, an lp12 does not require fettling frequently. Obviously, if you have now reached journey’s end on the upgrade path for your record player that’s great, but my experience is not to be put off lp12’s by concerns about having a local dealer.
Peter
@iliria, If you are based in Cheshire it may well be worth dropping in to have a chat with Chris Brooks. He’s based in Stockton Heath, Warrington. Not mentioned much on this forum as he doesn’t sell Naim kit any more, but in terms of LP12 set up and knowledge he’s right up there. Chris should be able to help fill in any knowledge gaps and advise on the most important components with regard to upgrade hierarchy and when the significant modifications were introduced. Let’s put it this way, if I buy an LP12, it will more than likely be either from Chris or Peter at Cymbiosis!
When I contacted him last year he said that he has occasional LP12s coming in where people have traded up wholesale. Or, perhaps build an LP12 from traded in spares.
Alternatively, there’s also Brian & Trevor over in Manchester. I have no experience of them as a dealer or LP12 expertise, but I believe they were ex LINN employees so should know their onions, and they have created the BooPlinth!
I think you have lots of wriggle room with that budget. The suggestions already made are quite valid.
The thing about @cymbiosis is that Peter can demonstrate from stock the options you are talking about. Certainly from various forum chatter the latest Majik arm is made by Jelco, but I have never associated the words bad or cheap with their arms.
Since buying my deck in 1978 I have used four dealers, the first was great, but they closed, the second went his own way from Linn, so when the motor and valhalla board reached their end of life I had to look for another, twice I had a three/four week wait and I all I had was a working deck, the arm board was skewed, not level and I simply didn’t use it.
A bit of saving later, an email, a telephone call, an appointment, drive to Leicester, changed my mind on what I wanted on arrival and all the parts were on hand, three hours later I had a fully performing totally enjoyable machine. Whilst Peter was fitting parts, he was calling out to Wayne what he had used so that new was being ordered immediately.
Sadly my cartridge was damaged, so I needed to go back, my initial visit had been the week before Lingo 4 was announced. I took the plunge on the second visit and the jump in performance makes me suggest to ignore the Majik power supply.
I know that cymbiosis have seen this thread, i suggest your best option now is to contact them and ask what could be built within your budget.
As regards a Rega arm, I flirted briefly and was badly disappointed with boomy and bloated bass, it demonstrates how set up is all, the tech, not having a correct size P-clip available had left the arm cable floating free. It took about 45 minutes to totally transform the performance for a part that cost pennies.
I am a Sondek owner and I think Linn’s approach is masterful. By designing a product which can be upgraded with a myriad of genuine and 3rd party retrofittable components, it means owners have a product which is future-proofed in performance terms whilst practically guaranteeing brand loyalty. It is a brave man or woman who is willing to walk away from a product they have invested so much money in. Contrast that with other brands like Rega for example and whilst they are great TT’s, once bought, there really isn’t anywhere to go.
There are indeed aftermarket belts, mats and springs. I kept the anti resonance springs but returned the mat (LP resting on the lip of the outer platter) and the belt which was curiously noisey though more expensive than the Linn original. Love my Khan and Tranquility though.
I think that is called a Mober. The only part I can think of that I have no TV seen by a third party is the lid.
Lingo as in slang for language e.g. speaking the Lingo
I had a geddon for many years but started to get irritated with the lack of switchable 45rpm (I have quite a few) I considered getting a second turntable for 45’s but tried a Lingo 3 (2011) and found I preferred it so switched. This with an Ekos 2
LP12 plinth dimensions have varied slightly over the years.
So as well as Majik, Akurate and Klimax versions, you can also have small, medium or large
When I received my LP12 Valhalla Pre Cirkus, the first thing I did was to disassemble it completely several times to get to know the beast
Then, I looked for an Ittok LVII to replace the Basik LVX.
The manufacturing of the support was an important step in improving the LP12.
And then, recently I found a Stylus manufactured by Audio Technica to revive my K9…
I loved my K9 MM - is that specifically designed for the K9 (or do we know the K9 was a modified or rebranded AT of some kind)?
IIRC, it was an AT95E with a metal body shell instead of the plastic, and a better stylus. Possibly fairer to say it was a Linn cartridge with the cantilever and electronics of the AT.
I used one in an RB300 on a Xerxes for a few years, really enjoyed it. (Replaced by Artemiz/Shiraz.)
I agree. The K-9 delivered a very musical, sweet sound. Some might interpret that to mean coloured, but so what, it worked and was very enjoyable. Since then I’ve used Adikt, Troika and Krystal, none of which delight as much as the humble K-9. It might also be that I’m remembering it with rose tinted ears, or the simplicity of the setup, being as it was plugged straight into a Naim Nait. Or maybe I’m just remembering the new musical discoveries I made with it. Whatever, I liked it.
Hello Alley_Cat, This is what they say:
"Linn’s fabulous K9 Moving Magnet Cartridge of the 80s and '90s was made for them by Audio Technica. The fact that both Linn Products and Audio Technica are still going strong today is testament to their skills and the quality of their engineering but sadly their relationship ended some time ago and hence the replacement stylus for the K9 has not be available for a similar time.
This is indeed a shame because with it’s finely made metal body & VM generator the K9 is a fantastic cartridge which would sell for £300 - £400 today. Until recently, K9 owners had the choice of soldiering on with an increasingly worn stylus (not to be recommended) or fitting the Audio Technica AT95E stylus. This is a low cost (or ‘budget’) stylus and does a more than adequate job of vinyl replay. However, you would not expect a budget stylus to perform as well as the original which was a nude mounted diamond with a ‘Vital’ profile. Our 95P Paratrace Stylus allows users to fit a top quality diamond stylus of the type that graces some of the very finest MC cartridges.
Those other stylus assemblies fit and work really well but look a little odd when in place since the plastic shroud on them is not a perfect cosmetic match for the K9 body.
Now, with the launch of their VM95 range of cartridges, AT are once again producing a stylus assembly that is a snug fit onto the K9 body. See the pictures for a range of K9 cartridges fitted with these stylus assemblies.
Available in four stylus types:
Elliptical ‘E’
Nude Elliptical ‘EN’ - This Item
MicroLinear ‘ML’
Shibata ‘SH’
In a ‘nude’ mounted diamond, the stylus profile is ground onto the end of a piece of square section diamond stock and this is mounted directly onto the cantilever. This results in a significantly lower tip mass than the cheaper ‘bonded’ stylus in which the tiny chip of diamond is bonded to a small rod of steel.
At the end of the day; the quality of information retrieval from your disks depends very much on the stylus and the more complex and expensive a stylus type you fit, the better your K9 will perform. Please choose the best you can afford and your K9 will repay you. If you wish to purchase more than one (perhaps an ML for ‘listening’ and an ‘EN’ for party use) do contact us for an offer. Or if you have any questions at all, we’ll be glad to help.
Each Stylus comes with:
New Stylus assembly with retail packaging
A slide-on Stylus Guard
Instructions on fitting to your K9 including removal of old stylus and setting up (this is very straightforward)"
