Thanks Ian,
It’s a wonderful LP12. Very very pleased with it and the joy it brings.
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Morning James,
Yeah I’ve been interested in trying the ‘mushrooms’, mainly just to see if it was yet another ‘swings and roundabouts’ fad. This one promised better pitch stability, but at what cost elsewhere? I thought I’d start by trying my own version, which cost me nothing apart from an hour in the workshop. Basically I removed the bottom small grommets and springs, then fitted an additional inverted large grommet, with a machined plywood adaptor to retain the extra grommet. Pics below should make sense hopefully.
What has surprised me is that everything about the sound has improved, not just pitch stability- which has remarkably improved PR&T.
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Neatly done 
You’d think Linn would change to a ‘mushroom’ if it was that much better.
Never heard them so can’t offer an opinion, just saying.
The product is called Taica Gel Bushing B-1, it can be easily found online for about $17 USD each. To install simply remove the springs and rubber grommets and substitute for the bushings. The only adjustment needed is height, there is no bounce to mess with.
If you have an aluminum top plate you’ll need three 19mm spacers as the ones above for height adjustment, needed to compensate for the bolts not being fully threaded. If you don’t like it (highly unlikely IME) simply put the springs/grommets back and adjust height and bounce, no need to touch or adjust anything else.
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No bounce?
At all? Is there some small movement up/down?
No springs, no bounce, no pistonic motion at all. The sub-chassis/armboard assembly is still suspended and resting on the bushings instead of the springs.
Interesting. Can I ask, how do you attach/link the spacers to the gel? – is it sticky?
In the pic it looks like the far right is ‘free’ but hasn’t dropped.
Thanks for the info (and to @llatpoh76 too). Always interesting to see different mods for the LP12.
Cheers
James
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Thanks. As for Linn, a move to mushrooms would be an admission that springs were never the best solution. Not going to happen!
That said, any alternative suspension / isolation system will react differently compared to springs, depending on what the deck is sitting on. Mine is on a rigid wall shelf attached to a brick wall, but if it was sitting on a stand or sideboard on a suspended floor the result may be a lot different. I can imagine that springs may be the best option for the widest range of deck locations. The tradeoff with springs is that pitch stability becomes a difficult nut to crack.
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The spacers do not attach to the gel, they only rest on them. The silicone bushings are sticky enough to effectively prevent rotational movement of the sub-chassis/armboard assembly under load, but not nearly enough as to stick to the aluminum bushings or to the top-plate.
The far right side is free as it naturally tilts when inverted due to the weight of the tonearm. Similarly, this occurs when both inner and outer platters are removed with the deck upright, but not when only the outer platter is removed. This is not a concern, as the sub-chassis effortlessly realigns with the flange of the silicone bushings.
Those are very insightful observations, I had similar questions initially, but once you engage with the setup, everything becomes clear, and you may find the simplicity amusing.
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I see the Taica’s can be had locally (RS) for about £11 a pop so got to be worth a try. I’d prefer a mounting method that’s a little better defined WRT lateral alignment of the sub chassis, but as you say the simplicity is amusing compared to the faff of finding the perfect piston-like bounce. Another believer in matching the top Rega arm with the LP12. Nice 
Oh - and the added joy of not chasing a constantly moving target when changing records takes a little getting used to 
I’m not 100% convinced about that. Marketing can always say something new is much better without saying the old thing was crap.
Majik Mushrooms perhaps ?
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Something like this
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I agree, Linn has steered course before to accommodate design improvements. I think the must likely issue would be a disruption of the business model, without springs to setup pistonic bounce dealer’s revenue on service might be severely impacted, and consequently dealer loyalty.
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I’m fearing Death Kap!
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Springless Update!
Initial results very positive but wanted to try some alternative grommet adaptors - these ones are all metal construction. Will now leave everything as is for at least a month to see if it still pleases.
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I spent a couple of hours this morning setting up the LP12 using the original setup manual.
Enjoying some unique vinyl. Sounds so good.
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Enjoying mine, only in place for 5 days but loving what I am hearing.
Have fun and let the tunes flow
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Some pics and your spec of LP12 would be appreciated when you gwt the time. I know you have waited aome time for this!
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Very nice plinth!
What’s the unique vinyl?
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