It is to those of us who already have it installed 
The TP Tranquility is no longer available as the sole owner of TP seems to have retired. However, the Tranquility addressed precisely the issue Linn now seem to admit to, but without recourse to low friction coatings. Any coating that experiences friction will eventually wear off, that much is basic material engineering.
Surely that would imply eventual contamination of the bearing well and, Iād have thought, greater risk of a worn bearing (given that contamination seems to be the predominant cause of worn bearings) - precisely what the new bearing is intended to reduce.
Iām sure and one would hope that the wear of the coating had been taken into account. I very much doubt the wear will be an issue.
Taken in to account or not it is, nevertheless, a fact that friction causes wear. If the coating is harder than the bearing shaft then the tip of the shaft will wear and if the the shaft is harder then the coating will wear. However, in my professional experience, low friction coatings do have a finite lifespan, such is their nature. Usually these coatings are microns in thickness and contamination is not an issue. It is also worth considering that low friction coatings/treatments are usually applied to bearing having relatively large surface area in the case of the LP12 bearing (and many similar) the vertical bearing point is of an extremely small contact point and pressure at this point is very high - the coating can do nothing to address this.
There is always a compromise and nothing is entirely āwear resistantā. It is worth noting that Linn already use a brushed motor (rather than a brushless variant of the same) in the Radikal - the benefit is improved torque at lower RPM but the disadvantage is that the brushes (not literally brushes but sprung pads) will eventually wear out.
If the coating has less friction than the current bearing surface there will no doubt be less wear. Given that the current bearing seems to play happily for 30+ years already, I think Ā£750 every 30 years is fine with me.
2 Likes
If I still had an LP 12
And Iām glad I donāt
I certainly would not be removing a perfectly good cirkus bearing with a tigerpaw tranquility to replace it with thisā¦
Better to keep the weight off the thrust point in the first place than try to reduce friction with special coatingsā¦
Iām sure many will find this to be a must have itemā¦and it will help with linns abismal bank balance no end Iām sure !
Doesnāt look to me like its compatible with TPT given that locking nut at the top.
Itās already been said that it isnātā¦
And as for Hercules and vanhalla power suppliesā¦they probably wonāt fit due to the hole in the circuit board being too smallā¦ though nothing to stop you putting them in a mose style box remotely I guessā¦
Ahā¦ missed thatā¦ where was that stated ?
In a post thatās now been edited I believe
But clearly wonāt go over new lock nut
It was a tight fit over the old plain bearingā¦
I much doubt it would fit over the new threads even without the nut fitted now
Yep I am well aware of that - just missed the earlier (now edited) post confirming incompatibility between TPT and Karousel.
So what we need now is a A/B demo of Karousel vs Cirkus with TPT
4 Likes
@Debs thats what I am looking at my current set up is Cirkus (2018) with TPT vs New Karsouel
I can then sell with Cikus and TPT as the TPT from speaking to my dealer wonāt work
Interesting times
1 Like
Strange this canāt be used in a Valhalla fitted deck ? although the CirKus couldā¦
V_R
Better for sure. Gilad did a brief A/B test between identical fully loaded LP12ās and it was clear that the one with the Karousel was more dynamic and musical.
1 Like
I am sure most LP12 owners will be able to hear the difference between the Cickus bearing and the new Karsouel and as with Naim - let your ears decide
I have a Cirkus with TPT and wonāt change unless I hear more music
1 Like
Thatās going to be tricky to demo. What dealer will bother now that the TPT is no longer available. And you are hardly going to be able to do an A/B on your own deck, given that the kit includes new hub, springs etc. Speculation here, but; if you donāt already have a TPT then it may be a good, comparatively cost effective, upgrade. If you do have TPT there will be an element of leap of faith given that a true A/B cannot be done. 
Think Iāve just talked myself out of worrying about it. Happy days.
4 Likes
My plan will be to take my deck to my dealer and ask him to get as close to set up and possible on the other deck but with karsouel bearing, as he prob has the most Lp12 on demo in UK he should be able to get as close as
if better A vs B then press the GO button
1 Like
The only problem is the TPT was not one of those items that definitively improved the sound. Many highly regarded people didnāt like it.
1 Like