Yes - still reigns supreme !
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@ratrat Certainly the Aro deck is getting by far the most play at the moment which I think is largely down to the Aro. I have had one before and remember it’s liquid mid-band very well and with this deck it’s still its defining feature. The Kahn, Karousel and Ali sub-chassis/armboard just allow greater detail to come through with a lower noise floor. The Troika is a honey and I can well understand now why these were such a popular combination over the years. I never owned a Troika in period and have never heard one that hadn’t been rebuilt or retipped somehow but I have owned an awful lot of high end MC cartridges to know that its still a great cartridge today. Its so easy to listen to this LP12 and objectively I have owned record players with more of this or that but this one seems to have everything in a nice fine balance. I’ve been regularly swapping from Rock, pop to classical to jazz and it handles it all with equal aplomb.
I have owned the Superline/Hicap for a few years and in the context of my all Naim system (252/SC/300) it makes sense. I don’t think its the best MC phono stage around (I’ve own/owned better to be honest) but it is still a very good phono stage. It has a significant advantage over the Urika in that the loading options allow cartridge matching, whereas the fixed 100ohm of the Urika significantly reduces cartridge choices. My Troika and Klyde, both minty samples, sound awful through the Urika and both sound fantastic through the Superline at the correct 560ohm load. I’ve used some great MC cartridges (Ortofon, Hana, Shelter, Linn, Clearaudio, AT) with the Superline and with the right load plug they’ve always sounded at their best. By comparison the Urika sound like its trying too hard by throwing a bit bit more ‘etched’ detail at you but sounding hard and thin through the upper mids, a typical Linn sound really. I doubt it will stay much longer. I only got it because I couldn’t fit another Superline in the rack and an internal phono stage seemed like a good compact solution, particularly because I already had a Radikal on that one too.
My head has been turned by the Cyrus phono Signature X because it can take 4 inputs and is very very flexible. Reviews from press and users have been very positive too. The only issue for me is that I have had terrible experience with Cyrus reliability in the past and I promised myself never to go there again! If only Naim would develop the Superline to a higher level with more inputs.
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Superline really comes into its own powered by Supercap through a Burndy. It then leaves the Hicap or Aux2 powered versions for dust.
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@KJC, Well, yes I have had a lot of different LP12’s over the years, 15 in fact! I have had most of the classic combo’s and have posted about them all earlier in this thread but I do like to try 'non-traditional combinations too. I’d rather listen to this stuff myself than read about it 
I’ve also had a lot of the LP12 competitors too with all the Thorens belt drive variants, Pink Triangles, the Gyrodeck, Voyd, Technics SP10 and several idlers. The Pink Triangle Anniversary that I owned for 15 years, The Voyd and the TW Acustic Raven AC3 that I currently own in my main system are ahead of any LP12 I’ve owned, particularly the Raven which is simply in another league. None of that has ever dented my enthusiasm for the Linn though. As you can probably tell, I’m fascinated with them
I did have a LP12/Nima deck last year and really enjoyed it. It’s true what they say that its 80% of an Aro and has all the typical Unipivot traits of liquid mid-band but a slightly less impactful bass, compared to, say, an Ekos. The Aro just brings more of everything and really is a worthwhile step above the Nima, but nowadays at a hefty price.
I am very curious of the Sara/AO Uniarm though myself and would love to have one. There must be a good current production unipivot that can match an Aro. The big downside of the Aro of course is the hair shirt design and super limited cartridge choice. I have a Graham Phantom on another deck and I think its significantly superior to the Aro but its too heavy for an LP12 I think. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Linn with the Graham up top. My next project is going to be to try a Morch UP4 which I know a few folks have dabbled with on the LP12 recently.
In your situation though I’d be looking to replace the Urika with a Superline before doing anything else. Long term, look for an Aro. It’s a no-brainer on the LP12 for mid-band junkies.
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I agree, but it’s a shame they didn’t continue round the corners with the same plank of wood. I realise it depends on where in the plank the interesting grain appears, but this is something Chris Harban did so well on Woodsong plinths IMO.
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@fordy Appreciate you sharing those thoughts, which is both an interesting read for this forum and also a help on my own journey.
Best Wishes, R
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@fordy Another interesting read for the forum.
BTW, completely agree with comments about Pink Triangle. I owned one through the 1990’s, which was set up with a Syrinx PU3 and Dynavector. It was a sublime record spinner and IMHO better than LP12’s of that time. I often wonder how PT’s would have evolved, if the business had survived ???
Still very much love my fluted Sondek though. It does things differently. Also, it’s a handsome and well designed product.
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The plinth looks interesting ?
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Nice piece of timber on that LP12
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Its Indian Rosewood made by Simon at Simplinth. All sorted by Peter at Cymbiosis. It sounds as good as it looks.
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wow, that looks amazing
Thank you. It sounds amazing too.
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A feast for the eyes, a turntable must look good and sound good .
And I bet that looks as good as it sounds
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Who won?
The LP12 (as it should). The CD555 reduces the gap by the day as it settles down, particularly after adding the second PS 555. There are certain recordings I now clearly prefer on CD555, largely thanks to the astonishingly good signal to noise, clarity and power - although the musicality and flow of LP12/Keel/Karousel with Aro through Superline/Supercap remains sublime.
Nice to have this choice of sources !
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would agree that is the only source i have heard which comes close to a fully Klimax deck apart from Vitus with DAC
not in my budget but I am keen to hear the new DSM with Organik DAC @ 30K
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Absolutely! Still ‘slumming it’ as Pete from Acoustica jokingly said to me with just the one PSU but it gets more regular use than the LP12 but that’s also down to me being a bit lazy. It’s nice to know that the LP12 is there when I do go for vinyl session.
I know I’m very lucky to have to really good sources.
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