Sure is graham55! My understanding is he had a hand in the design of the Keel and co-designed the rather nifty “Lifter” for the ARO with Johnny from Audio Origami which I use to good effect on my own deck. I’m back over there on the 6th for another wallet-emptying exercise after he’s back from the US.
My point is that @Paul6 said that he started with a ‘brand new Sondek’, with Walnut plinth and Karousel. And not with a bunch of parts. My guess is that despite being ‘brand new’, it was not complete, for some reason.
Maybe @Paul6 can enlighten us… At some point…
Yes, I shall be asking Audio T here in Brighton to fit a ‘Lifter’ on my LP12. I’m fine hand cueing the ARO at the moment, but I need to be able to cue records when I get too doddery to do it by hand.
I assume that it will be time consuming and a bit of a faff to take off and drill the Keel/A, then put it all back together again.
No, I haven’t, and it never occurred to me to ask if this were possible. I’d love to visit some time. There was a fascinating TV programme a few years ago visiting the factory - perhaps in the ‘Made In Britain’ series.
It was amazing, but actually rather reassuring, to see all the work involved in crafting the LP12, Ekos and other bits.
“I assume that it will be time consuming and a bit of a faff to take off and drill the Keel/A, then put it all back together again”
Yes, afraid so - I think Peter was at it for about an hour or so when he fitted mine. It’s proved invaluable for cueing the ARO on specific tracks and after moving from a cheapy AT cart to the DV XX2 I became quite jittery as any mistakes could prove to be very costly. It’s quite a sturdy thing requiring a bit more force than I’d have liked but it certainly does the job, looks nice too.
The LP12 comes in 3 off the peg variants. To allow you to build a new LP12 to your own spec you can buy an LP12 without sub chassis and power supply, the plinth would be one of their standard finishes. When I bought mine Linn charged £1700 pounds, current price is £2100. Doing it this way allows you to choose your arm, cartridge, power supply and sub chassis, this be from Linn or a third party manufacturer of which there are many or using pre loved parts which represent great value for money, especially if your budget is tight.
Hope that makes sense and answers your querie.
So thats WITHOUT a motor…
A Magik LP12 comes with the standard AC motor - surely…?
Yes without a motor, Peter Swain supplied a used motor, belt guide and fixings.
Yes I saw a doco where a few dealers toured the Linn factory
It’s immaculate, with all the various divisions laid out. It looked sensational
They showed the manufacturing of the streamers and the LP12
I was in Glasgow a number of years ago and like yourself never thought to do homework before going to see if I could visit Linn HQ
Did so for Naim HQ back in 2007 which was pretty awesome for a lad from down under
Yes it does, it’s supplied with a motor and a power supply.
But that was not what you bought, then…? You bought a ‘bare’ Akurate deck (which does not include a motor)…? And then added the AC motor and Hercules supply…?
My LP12 is so old - I don’t really understand the newer ones…
No I bought a bare deck, no motor, sub chassis or power supply and Peter built the deck up from there using used parts except for the cartridge and power supply which were new. The bare deck didn’t even come with a drive belt and fixings or baseboard! Linn are pretty tight, you don’t get a lot for your money. I could have bought a Majik LP12 but I’m fairly certain that what Peter has built me outperforms the Majik or at least I hope it does.
Sorry, but I cannot find that option on Linn’s price list (from Jan’22)…
Bare Plinth - yes.
Maybe terminology is the problem…
Without deviating from the main thread, I know that Brazilian rosewood is no-no when it comes to trading etc, but can one upcycle a reclaimed or an old piece of furniture and turn it into a lovely plinth?
Have a look at the Turntables section on the Linn website - Build your own.
You can configure your own revolving masterpiece by building your LP12 from scratch. First choose your deck - from traditional wood to high gloss colours, you can create a turntable that’s truly yours. Then simply add the components you want, and one of our expert LP12 retailers will tune it specially for you
I don’t see why not, Tony. Unless there’s some arcane detail in CITES. The ‘trading’ aspect happened long ago when it was sourced for furniture. Reuse, remodel…
A-ha… OK. So you build one from parts, then…?
I could see how you could do it, but Linn’s Price list didn’t explain that…
Knot Logik…
If you look on the price list, the first line item in each of the levels is “separate turntable, deck only”. This is the plinth, karousel, lid and a few other bits.
I don’t think that the text quoted means that you can send any piece of wood to the Linn factory (or to a Linn dealer) and then expect a plinth to be built for you.
It may be that an artisan workshop (such as Paul at Solid Sounds in Yorkshire, who built my own Wenge LP12 plinth) would accept a special commission, so it would be worth a call if you have some cherished wood that you’d like to have used.
Linn don’t make plinths.
They assemble the deck packages as requested to order.