Amazing how many seem to have bought their LP12 from Hamish, he up sold me from an RP3 to an LP12 as well at Graham’s, as a student back in 1980. It did come with a Rega R200 arm though, so they did not lose out entirely.
If I remember well it arrived earlier than expected, the one I got had been planned for a journalist who was going to be in China for a month, so they moved my up the waiting list.
Here’s my Linn LP12 story…
In 1983 I was at university and spent a 1/3 of my annual student grant on the new rega planar 3 with the new arm that every one was raving about. I purchased it from a Rega and Linn dealer in Moseley - Sound Advice. They used to put a plaque on the back of their sales which said “something nice from sound advice”
I really wanted a LP12 but the costs were prohibitive so I put it to the back of my mind.
Wind forward 30 years- during which time I got sucked into the CD world and my RP3 and hifi was confined to the loft- I decided to set up my old vinyl system again. Unfortunately I had given away all my vinyl so had that to replaced too…
I went to the museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and there is a Linn Sondek on display there- an original fluted plinth and I was reminded how beautiful they looked. So, I decided to buy a replacement TT- I sold my RP3 to a friend for the same amount that it cost me in 1983, and it continues to perform to this day
I looked a s/h Thorens and was on the verge of making a purchase- however the RP3 purchaser observed correctly that as I have always wanted an LP12 that I should just bite the bullet and buy one… great advice
I sourced an 1983 model (it has a date stamp inside it 21/6/83) and has Agnes Munro initials on the back. Linn Ittok. Pre cirkus. Valhalla
Since then it has been to see Peter @Cymbiosis and the spec is now: cirkus, Lingo 2, trampoline 2 and as of today - Krystal
It sounds incredible, and worth every penny!!
My first LP12 bore a label saying that it was assembled by Agnes Munro too!
December 1982 linn LP12 £373. Basil LVX arm £74. A&R P77 cart £46 from unilet of Guildford.
Bog standard until a couple of years ago. Now sporting late ekos 2 with skale, krystal, radikal, trampolin2, kore, karousel.
How do you keep the shine on your platter? It looks perfect.
Scott
Thanks. I wouldn’t have polished it only the lacquer had begun to fail, allowing the metal surface to oxidise a little in places. The work involved first stripping the remaining lacquer, then using a metal polishing paste (Solvol Autosol) to gently bring up a nice even shine - which is important as any unevenness is very noticeable when the platter is spinning. Finally I sealed the surface using Auto Glym Extra Gloss Protection. After a while the surface dulls a little to a nice mid-sheen, which I prefer to a mirror finish.
How have found the Karousel? It’s next on my upgrade list and I have heard nothing but good reports so far.
I had a P77 for a while on a Basik arm on my LP12. But then I changed for a Linn K-9, which was probably my favourite cartridge ever. LP12 with Basik arm, K-9 cartridge, Valhalla power supply into Naim Nait and Rogers LS7. That set up gave so much musical enjoyment.
i cannot compare an exact A-B as the LP12 was away for a few days having it fitted by an expert.
When it came back i played 4 records that i know very well.
Its hard for me to honestly describe but sounds to my memory much better and am overjoyed with the results. I am aware that i was listening intently for finer details etc but i will say it felt like there were more “pixels” to the sound, especially at low volume. Not a very hifi term sorry but for me explains in laymans terms the best i can.
I had the same sequence of cartridges as you Clive, K-9 after the P77, then Ittok with the K9, ending with Troika. I agree the K-9 was a fun cartridge with the added bonus of the Dr Who name and look!
Strange how pieces of hi-fi gear and their sound qualities can be perceived differently by different people. I too had a P77 cartridge back in the late 70s, but it was anything but a success from my perspective in my system of the time.
My set-up in the mid 70s was a Transcriptors Hydraulic Reference turntable with a Transcriptors 9" Fluid arm into a Cambridge P50/II amplifier and a pair of Celestion Ditton 66 speakers. My original cartridge was a Shure V15/III, but when the Shure’s stylus required to be replaced I decided to take a chance blind and instead opt for a new A&R P77 cartridge which had been receiving rave reviews in all the magazines of the day. I was terribly disappointed! The P77 sounded quite refined but very dull in my system. I kept it for only 9 months or so before opting for the (more expensive) Sonus Blue Label cartridge. Now, the Sonus in my system was a revelation by comparison with both the P77 and V15/III. Incredibly refined (just like an expensive moving coil cartridge) by comparison with the V15/III, but with all the sparkle at the top end that was so glaringly missing from the P77. In fact, I would rank the Sonus cartridge as being one of my best ever hi-fi buys.
It’s strange that the P77 didn’t sound good in my system. So many people (reviewers and punters alike) liked it that it must have been good - just not in my system!
@Hmack , Horses for courses. It probably never suited your configuration. Glad you found the Sonus brought you sonic nirvana.
A digital LP12. Now there’s progress.
Ok the sound was much clearer/sharper with instruments Such as cymbals/piano more lifelike
If you read my post it will explain I am not very good with hi-fi speak.
Actually that is a brilliant definition of how higher end sounds, far better than 99% of HiFi journalists , in one sentence you summed up how going up the HiFi ladder should sound.
This is my first post - so no shouting if I get something wrong.
I received my LP12 back from my dealer (Lyric HiFi Belfast - they’re doing an excellent collect & return service during the lockdown) yesterday and am thrilled by it’s musicality.
I bought it new circa 1975 with the earnings from my student Summer job. It had the fluted plinth and I initially fitted a Grace arm and Supex cartridge. I didn’t take to the arm and replaced it with an Ittok and eventually replaced the Supex with a Van den Hul MC10. Apart from a few of the early upgrades no further changes were made and it gave great pleasure until I put it away in 1983 once my daughter Helen was old enough to walk (and wreck).
Prompted by a chance visit to Tower Records in Dublin on Record Store Day, where on impulse I bought a 10” LP of outtakes from my all time favourite album Astral Weeks, I got the LP12 out of the roofspace for the first time in 25 years - and was hugely disappointed! The motor was noisy, and the cartridge clearly needed retipped.
So the deck once more sat unused for another year or so until Lyric contacted customers on their mailing list to let them know about the Karousel offer. I ordered a full upgrade - Keel, Lingo 4, Karousel, and Krystal cartridge. After a short delay due to the lockdown, the upgrade was undertaken this week and I am delighted with the result - a silent motor, a very low noise floor, and beautiful very natural soundstaging. Needless to say, the first thing I played was the 10” Astral Weeks outtakes LP!
So, why no photo? Well, rather like installing a new engine in an old vehicle, I have decided that I should replace both the plinth and lid. The deck currently sounds much more beautiful than it looks. I have also realised that I will soon have enough parts to put together a second turntable! As Helen is getting married next year (exactly one year to the day after my LP12 ‘came home’) and is interested in “vinyl” I’m thinking the second turntable would make a very nice wedding present!
So, sincere thanks to Michael McLean at Lyric HiFi For a job well done and, in a little while, perhaps I’ll be able to post photos of not one but two LP12 turntables!
Was originally a 1983 fluted model with Linn Basic (S shaped one) but can’t remember the cartridge. Had a black Ittok for a while but sold it when I didn’t use the deck and stored it. Bad move!
Fitted the Wenge plinth last year along with Cirkus upgrade. Now looking to get a Lingo. Are the Mk1s okay if serviced?
A lot of great fruitbox stories on this thread, FWIW I thought I would share mine.
I bought my fluted afro LP12 (with Valhalla, Basik LVX arm and K9 cart) at the end of 1987 for £429 from a now-defunct shop called Tonbridge Hi-Fi Consultants (originally based in Tonbridge, Kent, but in Tunbridge Wells by '87). They took my Heybrook TT2-Syrinx LE1-A&R P77 deck in part exchange.
By a very odd coincidence, the young man who sold me the deck is (now) the father of my nephew’s girlfriend!
In March 1989, I bought an Ittok LVIII arm, also from THFC. In 1997, I added a Cirkus bearing (from Grahams in North London). In September 2003 I did a big upgrade, from my current dealer, Oranges & Lemons in Battersea – this was a Lingo 2, Klyde cartridge, plus new cards for my Naim pre-amp (a NAC 62 back then).
In 2010 I added a T-Kable and Tramp 2, again from O&L, and last year I upgraded to a Lingo 4, Kore and Krystal. Next upgrade, I suspect, will be a Karousel.
I’ve had my fruitbox for 32 years now, and I cannot think of a single material object in my life that has given me as much pleasure, or that has proved to be as astute an investment (or VFM). To be honest, even if I won the Lotto, I don’t think I’d ever get rid…