Show us your Sondek

Thanks Magpie. I thought I’d wait and give Linn time to sort out any potential issues. Think 30 odd years was long enough. :smiley:

Cheers, Rack.
:+1:t5:

Love that plinth…
And a great story too!!

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Ian, that TT is beautiful! …thanks for sharing the story and the photographs.

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When you’ve time Ian, be great to see the top of your Linn as I imagine the grain of the plinth edge must look nice against the top plate and armboard…

Here you go; just phone shots but hopefully convey the look ok.

Cheers,

Ian

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Nice :+1: :yum:

Thanks Ian!
I’m so tempted now to strip and oil/wax my afromosia fluted after seeing your success!

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Afro might be different Stevie. My feel is that the key to the success of Ian’s stripped finish is the traces of black paint/stain that have been retained in the grain and how those traces of black contrast so beautifully with the plain Ash. Not sure it’d be so easily replicated with a different wood as a starting point. great job Ian. Looks Ultra cool and unique. :ok_hand:

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Looks really nice. I had a black Ittok for a while. Really nice arm and super rare.

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Hiya Rack,

Hope all’s well. I don’t think that my LP12 is significantly more “staticky” than my previous Rega P5: both had mats that, to paraphrase the late, great Art Dudley, clung to records like a rancher to the federal teat.

I’ve done a bunch of experimenting with different mats, and I found that a Rega mat, which is thicker than the Linn one, is less likely to lift off of the platter after a record side. (I’m using the Rega mat solely because it’s a nice royal blue color and I think it livens up the deck. I know this is heresy in some circles!) I have an Auditorium 23 mat that likewise tends to stay put.

All best,
Joe

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Thanks @KJC. I’m not looking to replicate Ian’s finish/grain…was more thinking that my 1982/3 plinth ( currently unattached as I changed to a modern one last year ) could benefit from a similar revamp…I would like to see if incorporating the modern corner braces etc is possible, along with sprucing it up a bit and refitting at some point :slight_smile:

Understood Stevie. Afro IS the ultimate LP12 look IMO, so very interested in seeing how you get on … assume/hope it’s a fluted plinth?

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Oh yes! I love the fluteds…I had a really good offer on a beautiful modern plinth last year, which I couldn’t resist…

But I miss my old fluted plinth! One day, I’d love to refit it -after a spruce up.

Hi sweet.bippy.

I solved the matt lifting problem on both the P9 I had and now the LP12 by using a few strips of narrow double sided sticky tape between matt and outer platter. Works a treat and means I can flip sides without having to stop the platter.

I still have the thicker White matt from the P9 and might give that try over the standard Linn just for a comparison.

If there’s one thing I miss from the P9, it’s the ceramic outer platters Rega use on it’s top decks. Those outer platters are a work of art. :sunglasses:

Really, black Ittoks were rare? All those years ago when I had mine, I was told that they sounded better!

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Yes, I heard the same thing. Never had the chance to hear the difference though. I suspect it’s marginal at best. They are definitely rare though. Can’t recall the last time I saw one for sale. If I ever put together a second retro deck, that’s the arm I’d want, for nostalgia reasons mainly.

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My dealer said a handful of prototype black Ittoks were made in Scotland with better ball racers and perhaps some other changes, so I don’t think all black Ittoks are necessarily better than silver. He has one in the showroom fitted to a Afro / Valhalla deck and said it has the best bearings short of an Ekos SE. Sounds very nice indeed.

It’s weird, when I bought my first LP12 in the late 80s, I really didn’t like the look of the Ittok. I think it was just something about those times and, being quite young, any shiny silver HiFi looked hideous. I probaby could have stretched to one but preferred to have an Akito 1 instead. Of course, in hindsight I wish I’d bought an Ittok especially as the bearings failed on my Akito.

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Ian, That’s a great story and a really beautiful individual deck.
I must be going to the wrong pub, (sudden overwhelming feeling of pre-lockdown nostalgia).I don’t suppose you asked if Des has a Naim 01 tuner or pair of SBL,s in his attic?
I notice that you are changing from Lingo 4 to Radical, Did you think it offered a significant improvement? I am thinking about where to go next with my deck which still has Lingo 1.

Thanks for the nice reply. Did you hear the Karousel? I was away for the proposed SO event which I guess fell foul of lockdown.
I am hoping to audition the new bearing and consider other LP12 upgrades when things reopen.
Regards

Best of luck :wink:

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Hi Stevie,

Wot KJC says! It is the remnants of the black paint that really brings out the grain in the ash. It was quite a tricky thing to judge when I stripped it; I didn’t want to go too far but was worried about not going far enough. I had to be really careful with the sanding phase.

How an afro plinth would look stripped, I don’t know; unfortunately, there is only one way to find out and no going back! I would also imagine it would be really hard to get in between the flutes.

Cheers,

Ian

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