Show us your Sondek

Have you posted that photo before? I ask, because it looks very similar to a Wenge plinth that I have fitted to my own LP12 (mine is from Solid Sounds in Yorks).

You must have been unlucky with hinges, as I can only remember changing mine once in 30-odd years.

Yup in the similarly themed ‘show us your turntable’ thread. :sunglasses:

Excellent! That deck has more of the foundational upgrades than the other one you demo’d.

Add a Karousel and upgrade to a Radikal 2 and your done.

Gone.

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I am swapping in my Karousel into the Stiletto before selling (or if necessary breaking up) my existing LP12.

Radikal 1 upgrades are another question!

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Limited budget but is it worth upgrading from a Lingo 3 to a 4?
Tim

I’d say yes. The L4 is completely different in operation and design to the earlier Lingo PSUs.

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Only IMHO of course…

The big steps were L1, L4 and Radikal.

L3 is better than late L2, which I am told is better than early L2, which was better than L1. However, most agree those gaps are small. L4 is more material.

Mind you, I got my L4 and Karousel together. At least some of those who did not do the same rate the bearing change as the bigger upgrade. If the budget s tight…

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New LP12 inbound… I’m just waiting for Darren at Class A to service the Prefix phono stage and send it back to Peter at Cymbiosis so that he can complete the build.

Once finished it’ll comprise Radikal 1, Aro, Kandid, Keel, and Karousel. The Prefix is a stopgap until funds recover. I’m hoping to get to a Urika or potentially a Superline at some point.

I can’t wait to hear it, should be a significant upgrade over my current Cirkus, Akito, Adikt, Hercules LP12 :grinning:

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It looks rather marvellous, so let’s hope that it sounds the business too! A couple of questions, if I may.

Is the plinth an original Linn black ash?

And is that some sort of armlift device on the ARO?

(It takes me back to see the box of bits for the ARO.)

Thanks Graham, yes it is an original Linn black ash plinth. And yes, it does have one of Peter’s custom made lifters. I tend to listen to music On a Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings along with a beer/glass of wine or two… so I thought the lifter was a wise investment.

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Yes, I have spoken to Peter Swain about my dealer getting a Lifter to install on my deck, and I hope to be able to get on with that soon. I don’t have a bottle-of-red problem to contend with these days, but I’m not getting any younger, and I’m planning ahead for when hand-to-eye coordination may not be what it is now.

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There are 2 Aros in the picture??

The arm top that is in place in the picture is likely one Peter’s that he was using to test the set up. Mine will be the one in the box below, as we’d not decided on the cartridge at that point.

I had an unexpected email from Peter this evening saying the Prefix had arrived and he’d finished the build. So tomorrow I’m collecting her :grin:. Tonight is starting to feel like Christmas eve has come early!

This evenings photos from Peter below. Can’t help but think the Aro with Kandid looks like a Praying Mantis face on…


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@Guinnless and @NickofWimbledon Thanks for your respective replies. I did get the Karousel bearing which was a nice improvement. I’ll have to look into how much the L4 improved things, normally I would go for the Radikal but looks like I’ll need to replace my cartridge soon which is a TK Rua so that will take a chunk out of the budget.

Tim

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That looks very stylish indeed, and it’s one of the few cartridges that I’ve seen to use the third fixing hole on the ARO head shell. (I’ve always had Dynavector cartridges, so the third hole on my ARO has never been used.)

What a lovely looking TT, if I may say so. Is the plinth a standard Linn black ash (Agnes Munro built, even), or something more exotic? I had a Linn black plinth for 30-odd years, but have just had a Wenge plinth (Solid Sounds) fitted by Audio T.

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It looks like that question was answered three days ago when you asked the very same question.

My sincere apologies. Recent illness has been screwing with my head, which is not a barrel of fun. If at least I’m being consistent when I cover the same ground, that’s got to be a good thing. If I start arguing with myself a few days apart, then I’ll know that things are getting bad!!

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Thought I would post some images of the refurbished LP 12, still little bits to do but pleased with the result so far. Before.





After, a lot of work but have really enjoyed it and listening to vinyl again after twenty plus years is a real pleasure.

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Nice job. :+1: