Is Linn or Rega turntable, i.e. base+arm+cartridge, synergy with an owners Naim system a real thing or just an “old wives tale”?
Or can true Synergy be got with any turntable
or will this only ever remain more of an aspiration for non Linn or Rega owners?
Discuss, use no more than two sides of A4 and remember to put your name on the paper. You have 1 hour, begin. 
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I see you have a Palmer tt with SMEV. are you thinking of changing it because you don’t find a synergy with the Naim sound or you are just curious on people views ?
By the way I love the Palmer look 
A sheet of Bronco should suffice.
Naim decided to pair their gear with the soap box and it was a marriage made in heaven - or Salisbury if you prefer.
When I bought my first serious turntable back in the ‘80s I thought I’d be putting an LP12 in front of my Nait, but good though the Linn was I much preferred the Roksan Xerxes. I’ve had Roksan decks in front of a range of Naim amps for the last 35 years or so.
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I also have an Xerxes albeit ‘mothballed’ at the moment.
I changed to it in the 80’s from what was at the time a fully loaded LP12 and enjoyed it for many years. I don’t have the space for it at the moment and it neds a little fettling to get it back on form.
I remember going to probably the first public demo of the Xerxes at the Heathrow show. Touraj was doing the demo and it had been slotted into a classic Linn Naim system, the only change being that there wasn’t an LP12 but an Ittok and Troika were used into Naim amplification and Kans.
I think the Roksan was the first turntable to challenge the LP12 on the same terms, it was musical, and had the toe tapping capability that the others at the time didn’t. An LP12 at the time sounded rather laboured, slow and coloured by comparison. Of course things have moved on and modern LP12’s sound quite different to a mid 80’s model.
It was the best sound of the show!
I was never persuaded with regard to the Linn/Naim synergy. In fact I knew a dealer in N London in 1982 ish who used to conduct a behind screen demo of LP12/Ittok/ATF3 vs Michell Focus/Mayware/ATF3 into Naim amps and Kans and yes the majority preferred the latter. And has been said then along came the Xerxes.
In more recent listening it’s Roksan/Vertere and Avid that have really impressed me the most. However, as has been said more recent LP12s are a very different proposition to the 80s/90s models particularly with Keel.
Regards,
Lindsay
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I did similar back in 82 too but with an LP12/Ittok/Asak and a Logic DM101/Ittok/Asak into both an A60 and some Naim amps which I forget, 12/250 springs to mind but may well be wrong on that. I too was easily swayed in favour of the Logic for it’s more detailed brighter presentation, the dealer preferred the Linn. I think the subchassis was the important bit there for me, with the advent of the Keel the LP12 suddenly became a deck I would buy and had I not bought the Michell quite recently I may well have done.
I don’t believe any deck or combination has synergy with any other bit of kit, it’s a case of listen and see what you like and if you like it enough to put your hand in your pocket. The notion of synergy has I suspect over the years put a lot of cash in dealers tills
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Ten years ago I wanted a new turntable to go with my then MF Nuvista M3 integrated and Dali Helicon 8 MK2 speakers. So over a period of two years, on and off I listened to Avid, Linn, Mitchell, Nottingham Analogue and Roksan, there may be others that I have forgotten. I had never hard of John Palmer but happened to be in a dealers listen to a Mitchell and he suggested I had a listen which I did, there and at home. To my ears it worked in my system in my room so I purchased the JP 3 along with the Quad 24P phono stage; again I had listened to lots of phono stage over two years.
Interesting that the original Xerxes has come up. I too bought one in preference to the Linn in the late 80s. In 2016 it needed a lot of tlc so I demoed a modern Linn. It had lost the bloated bass and was transformed, something I think is more to do with the Cirkus. Anyway, I bought it and now really love it. It will see me out as they say!
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