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Hi-Fi Corner
902

I met Ivor and Julian at a Hi Fi show and chatted to both, knew more about Julian due to his racing in minis. This would’ve been early 80’s at that time I was a regular at The Sound Organisation till it’s demise from then frequented Studio 99 owned at the time by John Tobler and run by Dave Davis.
One of the engineers there was James Herriot now the owner of Whest Audio. I spent a fair bit of money there LP 12 servicing, Nat 101 / Snaps, 2 Karmas. Never felt being pushed into buying anything it was a lovely shop filled with nice people. I remember them losing their Linn franchise because they didn’t want to sell their amplification.

Regards,

Martin

903

The “compare” table on the Linn website refers to it as stainless steel and aluminium and as you say only part of the Majik package.
Then, I find an advert for the arm alone at £900.

1 Like
904

It does, so it looks as if it’s derived from the Satisfy Aluminium, interesting that the Emotion turntable without arm and cartridge is £1650 (ish) but adding arm and cartridge take it to £2170 .

The combined retail for arm and cartridge is about £1900 as separates, so Clearaudio’s pricing strategy is clearly aimed at complete units.

All in all it’s a very nice arm, but I agree with those who say the old Jelco arm was a nicer aesthetic fit, but both are better looking than the Pro- Ject arm.

Bottom line - it’s a nice looking and nice sounding turntable

3 Likes
905

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I’m advised work is now complete and so this beauty can return home.

I can’t wait to get it back and enjoy listening to a few ( maybe a lot) of records.

Picture credit : Basically Sound.

17 Likes
906

Once you switch to Kore & Karousel add a Collaro as well. Makes a big difference.

907

I ditched my Collaro and returned to the Linn mat when I upgraded to Keel/Radikal/Kandid last year. Back to back I felt the Linn had the edge.

4 Likes
908

Studio 99 were an excellent shop and had the right combination of creating your interest without being pushy. They had a number of high end musical clients from the local area.
When the shop folded Dave Davis set up on his own specialising in AV products and home installs. He lived in St. Albans and had a website D2C.
One of the problems with LP12s of that time was the springs would come out of alignment, the vertical bounce was lost and unless you could fix it yourself, unlikely, it was back to the shop. That one has been firmly sorted a long time ago.[quote=“Arthur-Lee, post:902, topic:7909, full:true”]
I met Ivor and Julian at a Hi Fi show and chatted to both, knew more about Julian due to his racing in minis. This would’ve been early 80’s at that time I was a regular at The Sound Organisation till it’s demise from then frequented Studio 99 owned at the time by John Tobler and run by Dave Davis.
One of the engineers there was James Herriot now the owner of Whest Audio. I spent a fair bit of money there LP 12 servicing, Nat 101 / Snaps, 2 Karmas. Never felt being pushed into buying anything it was a lovely shop filled with nice people. I remember them losing their Linn franchise because they didn’t want to sell their amplification.

Regards,

Martin
[/quote]

Never been to Linn, but twice to Naim, the first time when Julian hosted a Saturday morning event. I forget the tour details but recall the demo session with DBLs and a 135 (?) six pack fronted by an LP12. This was the era before Naim embraced any concept of CDs. We were split into groups of about half a dozen and Mike Lewin from Graham’s ushered us round.
My second visit was to their current location and hosted by Simon from Infidelity. The event an all day one kicked off with a welcome from Paul Stevenson. I recall we had to wear special overshoes to earth any static we might generate.
I was impressed by the almost low key atmosphere in the factory and attention to detail. The cable relaxation rig was interesting. If it didn’t work they wouldn’t have used it. Not a bad lunch in their canteen either!

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909

Me too. I found the Linn mat a tad livelier and just slightly more involving somehow. I must get around to putting the Collaro up on ebay …

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910

Well this weekend it’s £1 selling fee, so get it on there!

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911

So in which configuration of your LP12 did the Collaro perform better than the standard Linn one? In my more basic Kore, Karousel and Krystal it seems to give more space between instruments more 3D image and better reproduction for lead vocal.

912

I liked it when I first got it. Kore/Mose/DV-XX2 was the set up then. But I was using an Acromat prior to that so not really a fair comparison. The Acromat now is a step back again.

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913

Got my first Linn and first Naim from Studio 99 in Harpenden. I think it was a guy called David Rance who set up the Linns and Tulsey (spelling) who did the other stuff. Always a nice place to go.

Tim

914

I’ve been busy with LP12’s through the lockdowns and sourcing parts and building them has become a bit of an obsession.

First I updated my existing Sondek with a lovely new and very characterful Linn Oak plinth and new top plate and added an Urika and Karousel. So far I’m lukewarm about the Urika and prefer the Superline. Cartridge choice isn’t settled yet though. A work in progress really.


Spec is Radikal, Kore, Ekos 1/Skale, Urika, Klyde

Next I built all the old parts into a Majik spec deck to sell. It’s a really nice starter LP12.


Spec is Majik PSU, Cirkus, Majik/Jelco arm and cable and an AT120e/II

The next one up was catalysed by the acquisition of a Grace G-707 because I always wanted to hear an early LP12 configuration. I bought an early donor deck that had the correct Grace armboard but it needed a lot of attention. It’s turned out really nice in the end. Lovely old skool LP12 sound and a real history lesson for me. I doubt I’ll keep it much longer but it’s been a fun project.


Spec is Grace G-707, early white liner pre-Cirkus bearing with spot welded subchassis and a refurbished non-corner braced plinth. The only bit of modernity is the Valhalla. Cartridge is a Shure M75ed with a NOS original stylus.

Next one was something I decided to build for my brother. I noticed that there were a lot of cosmetic second Rega RB303 being sold off cheap so that decided the arm. Then I found a tatty corner braced plinth that needed a bit of TLC and the rest of the parts came together quite readily. For an entry level LP12 it sounded absolutely ace and my brother was delighted with it. It was so good I’m thinking about doing another.


Spec was corner braced plinth with a late black liner pre-Cirkus bearing and glued sub-chassis, Hercules II PSU, Rega RB303 and an AT3600L cartridge.

Finally the parts came together for the deck I was meant to be building all along. I did have a Naim’d LP12 in the past and fancied another so the hunt for the parts started with the chance acquisition of the Chris Harban Wenge plinth. Someone had hand varnished it! Sacrilege! A light rub down and wax polish has it right again. Then I found an aluminium one piece sub-chassis/armboard for an Aro that had been apparently made by some enthusiasts in Germany. Basically it’s a very close Keel/A clone as far as I can tell. The Aro took me about 8 months to source and it came after a chance conversation with someone over some LP12 parts he was selling. He’d had the Aro serviced at Naim over 10 years ago with an ESCO rebuilt Troika and never got around to building his dream deck. I jumped at the chance! It came with a Prefix although I haven’t used it yet. I needed to source the arm cable but got exceedingly lucky when someone responded to a wanted advert. Finally a mint Armageddon 2 topped off a dream spec LP12. It’s playing through the Superline and I absolutely love it. My very best LP12 yet.


Spec is Woodsong Wenge plinth, Tiger Paw Khan top plate, Keel-a-like, Karousel, Aro, Troika, Trampolin II, Armageddon 2.

That’s all for now, I have a few more plans cooking but I’ll need a bit of consolidation first.

34 Likes
915

Great write-up – the ARO’d deck looks awesome! (Fellow member of the ARO club here…)

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916

@fordy For me, the fluted one just looks right.
Fab post. Thanks for sharing.

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917

How are you getting on with the last iteration?
In particular, I’m curious to know about the Troika?

Any further thoughts partnered with SuperLine?

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918

Great post Fordy. I think you may have more hands on experience of a wide variety of LP 12 options than most.
The quote I’ve highlighted resonates with me. Last year I traded Stageline S, Roksan Nima and DV10X5 for Urika, Roksan Sara and Linn Krystal at the same time as getting a Karousel fitted. I loved the old deck, but something just isn’t working anymore. It’s clearly more detailed, but it just doesn’t involve me as it used to and it’s now a rare occurrence that it drags me away from my ND555, especially now since I’ve added a second 555PS.
My gut feel is the Urika/Krystal combo is not working for me. Possible that it’s the Sara, but not sure…
I should have gone with my gut which said ARO (but none were available), probably Superline and one of Krystal, DV XX2, Lyra Delos. Lockdown led me to follow dealer advice, but sadly not sure that it’s worked out. I’ve heard enough of Vinyl to know that it can still be a very unique experience, even against the mighty ND555 + 2x 555PS, but I think I need to adjust my TT to an iteration that will work again for me.

1 Like
919

Folks are different and you need to find out what makes you tick. Always tricky when more than one item is changed. I personally prefer old Naim 323 cards to the Urika but that’s in the context of a vintage Linn/Naim system. Similarly, not keen on Karousel either. And think I prefer Adikt to Krystal so I can totally see where you’re coming from but then my tastes are quite off the beaten track.

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920

My LP12 in action this morning, battling with CD555.

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16 Likes
921

Presuming that there was no contest? LP12 supreme?:rofl: