Hopefully you are right! Thanks for the input.
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one doesn’t get rid of one’s engagement ring: black ash, Valhalla, Ittok LVII, K9
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SQ and affordable (?) steps to nirvana: Aro; Rega Exact; Dynavector Karat; Prefix and HiCap; Dynavector XX2; Armageddon; Kore; Radikal; Karousel;
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Over your mortal body.
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See 3 above.
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I bought mine in 1986 , it was the base model with Ittok arm and Troika cartidge. Just to add confusion at the same time I bought my Quad ESL62’s
The whole thing ran from Quad 44 and 405 II and was inevitably wonderful
All remained like this until in 1996 I never felt the urge to swap bearing and power supplies. I emigrated to South Africa, the moving men couldn’t find a space for my the 16 feet of vinyl , so that was the end
I traded the LP12 in for a Karik CD player which was equally wonderful and sold off the LP’s . Imagine selling off over a 1000 mint vinyl these days , I could retire on the proceeds
I went CD for a long time a and finally in 2012 I started ripping my collection. I am now a 10 yr Roon (and 15yr JRMC) veteran with a dedicated ROCK Server
Long story short, I now have the Uniti Atom HE and 3 pairs of hi (ish) end phones , no speakers etc and am perfectly content, me, my trusty chair and my Sennheiser HD800 (and Focal Clear Mg , HiFi Man Arya)
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I have had several LP12’s a black ash with Cirkus bearing, Ittock and Lingo 1, one I almost built from scratch again with a Cirkus bearing, upgraded Origin Live I think Rega arm and Mose Hercules psu and my favourite a pre Cirkus, red button with the FR12 Fidelity Research arm that was specially made for the LP12.
They where all great and on their day sounded phenomenal but they could also sound lifeless at times which led to lots of fiddling about and upgrading and after one particular gruelling round of top plate aligning decided it wasn’t worth the hassle anymore. I went from upgraded Technics 1210 to a Rega P8 which apart from the needle is stock and hasn’t been touched since I’ve owned it almost 4 years.
If funds allow I might one day go to a P10 but other than that I’m very happy.
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My journey with the LP 12 was at Graham’s Hi Fi where I used to service their lift. This was 1977 when they were in Pentonville road, I was eavesdropping whilst they were doing a demo. I thought that sounds good I asked how much it was, LP 12, Grace arm and Supex 900 mc. Naim amplification and I think Linn Kan speakers. I think the system was about £700 to £800 ? Having two young children and I was the only bread winner it was way out of my league.
In 1978 I managed to buy an LP12 and had my SME 3009 fitted to it with the Shure V15 cartridge. I bought it from Billy Vee when they were Lewisham. At that time I had a Quad 33 / 303 and ELS 57 speakers.
I made the wrong move in 1980 and bought a Meridian 101 / 103D a couple of months into the amp ownership it damaged the ‘57’s speakers so I took the amp back to the dealer and got refunded. I then went to the Sound Organisation in the Borough Market I knew the guys there because they’d worked at Graham’s Hi Fi. This would be 1982 the Linn got upgraded to the Ittok / Asak, and later in the year to a 32 / Snaps 250 CB. Roger told me that a client of his was getting divorced would I be interested in buying his DMS Isobariks?
I changed the cartridges several times from Asak T, Karma, Dynavector 20 L, Micro Benz Wood SL to the current cartridge Kiseki Blue NS. The Ittok went in 2004 and I bought one of the last Aro’s made.
All this time the LP 12 has been fettled by Derek Jenkins R.I.P of Tangerine Audio fame. The turntable was upgraded by him and Mark Digman to full Tangerine spec Stiletto, Plateau chassis, Aro, Kiseki Blue NS, Armeggedon. This was carried out in 2016 and I think I’m not going to chase the dragon I’m very happy where I am now.
Regards,
Martin
The Isobariks are still with me the amplification changed in 2014
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Bought first one in ‘86 with ittok/asaka, them upgraded to Ekos/Troika, It was my only source then. I eventually sold it in ‘99 and later replaced with Rega P3 Elys. No regret for the Sondek then. Two years ago i bought a new Sondek with keel sub. akito3, Adikt Lingo2. A huge disappointment , being used with CD. Upgraded this year with Kristal, not much difference for me. Finally sold back at the dealer for a few pennies since nobody wanted, but It’ s a great relief for me having ditched it
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I bought my LP12 when i moved to Canada from UK wayyyy back in 1995 .
I could never afford one when i was living / working in UK but added funds from well paying work here let me get one .
I think i used the Linn LVX arm from my old AR deck until i managed to save up enough for a used Ittok. I used this combo with my trusty old Quad 405mk2 amp and 34 pre amp for many years .
Fast forward to today . I had the power supply , chassis and arm board upgraded in 2017 as the original motor died on me 
. I still play records every day as i listen to the music while excersizing in the basement ( retired now from 47 years working in Mining ) . I just retired my Quads as well and got a Musical Fidelity M5si Power amp . This is all fed to my 2 year old Wharedale Evo 4.4 speakers .
Still loving vinyl 
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I had my LP12 from 1979 to 1992. Upgraded from Basik LVX arm to Ittok. Cartridges from Linn Basik (I think it was called) to Arcam P77, briefly a high output AT moving coil (can’t remember the model), Grace F9E, Linn K9 and finally Linn Asaka when I got the Ittok.
I loved the LP12 for it’s unbeatably musical sound which just made anything played on it sound absolutely spellbinding. I loathed it for its unreliability. Mine needed resetting every few months as it was continually drifting out of tune. I did consider swapping to a Pink Triangle at one point but didn’t. I put up with this inconvenience for years simply because it was so musical and it seemed there was no really viable alternative. Finally when I left my parent’s house after getting married and life was much busier and full of other concerns I lost patience and eventually swapped it for a Rega Planar 3. In practice this probably sounded better than my LP12 for at least 50% of the time as when the LP12 drifted off it sounded very ordinary indeed. Shortly after this we abandoned vinyl for CD anyway.
Memory plays tricks and it was a long time ago now but my LP12 was probably the most musical source I’ve ever had. Without a doubt though it was also the most troublesome piece of hi-fi I’ve ever owned.
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I’m more like ‘back from the future’, as I didn’t really know much about LP12 until few years ago, before doing extensive research and getting advices from great people like murmur.
I started with a Frankenstein one, confidently ‘tweaked’ by the previous owner but sounds bad and looks ugly. With the Afro plinth I rebuilt it as Ittok/Valhalla/pre-cirkus/Karma-Troika. I truly enjoyed it, its funky fat sound with natural drive that couldn’t be found from modern gears.
But interestingly some basic requirements weren’t basic back then, that the upper mid is evidently stand out without reasons (I bet the SLCE caps used by Naim weren’t good at highs, with modern Sic Safco it’s an overdone), so I sold it, and bought back parts like Aro, Geddon and Prefix and planning to rebuild one at the end of this year.
It certain have a better synergy with my 52/135 system, as Naim didn’t play the ‘voicing’ game anymore after the great split, certainly a more neutral, transparent sounding source would benefit the whole thing.
And best part is I need not worry if the TT PSU would affect the performance of my beloved cd player, and keep the system’s design philosophy intact.
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In practice this probably sounded better than my LP12 for at least 50% of the time as when the LP12 drifted off it sounded very ordinary indeed. Shortly after this we abandoned vinyl for CD anyway
Same situation here
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Thank you for your reply. Some real lp12 experiences there
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Fair enough , sorry to hear te this
Thank you all for your stories and advice . Tempting as it might be and you might be lucky its best to buy an Lp12 brand new or a new serviced, springs, bearing oil etc from a reputable dealer. My dealer is Audiogold ( Big thank you Alex, Paul,Ben,Nick, Alfredo, Robin) and I heard it this week. The system at the shop was Moonriver 404 and the new Klh model 7 . It sounded amazing . I would recommend the Klhs.
Home system Linn Lp12 rb 250, At vm95 ml , project s3 phono stage , qed reference cables , Kylne pre Amp Tannoy ( Thresham Audio) Power amp, Wharfedale Super Lintons . Absolutely spell binding stuff. Like yourselves I’ve put a lot of effort , research, listening sweat , dosh regarding my stereo and its paid off. Imho this Lp12 is not going to receive any upgrades . I have got the classic warm full bodied sound I’m after . The td 160 is staying . Its the Lone Ranger and Tonto. All I hope now is my equipment stays reliable . I don’t wish to take it further. I’m delighted with the sound .
Keep those stories comming in please.
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