Yeah, I’d skip the LP12 in that case. Rega P10 would still be great though as the setup is dead easy.
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A direct drive will rarely need a service. Never need a belt change or oil on the spindle. In fact, if you are over 50, it’s likely to outlive you before it needs a trip to the mothership. It certainly won’t need set up by a dealer (though in truth a Rega won’t either). I went direct drive for the convenience. My second direct drive deck was a Technics purely on sound quality grounds. The Technics will be totally forgiving of placement and give good performance even without a dedicated rack or shelf - it’s isolation and adjustable feet are superb. Comes with the right mat, the right arm, and you can’t change the power supply - it is what it is - which is a great strength.
I spent formative years working in hifi retail where it was all Rega and LP12s. Had access to a maxed out LP12 for all that time. Also saw the absolutely endless stream of decks in for service and upgrade and just couldn’t fall in love with the format for all the hassle. Didn’t stop me making snobbish remarks about direct drives and owners of Technics decks in particular.
Eventually I had to eat humble pie.
If I was inclined to go belt drive, I suppose I’d give Rega another look, though I’ve always been Clearaudio curious.
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The Rega P6, P8 or P10 are take out of the box, connect and enjoy. (assuming you get a package where the cartridge is factory fitted, saves money and the trouble of doing it yourself).
No messing with vta or other adjustments just enjoy.
I think belts last for ages, and bearing is almost maintenance free for life (check with dealer) so your quest to gain “…my Analog experience…” will start easily, and deliver great enjoyment.
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It is never a matter of humble pie…
Where is the evidence that Linn is the only serious choice for a turntable.
The market place suggest there is plenty of good choices to be made, and for ofter much less money.
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A s/h LP12 can be a great SQ - per - $ option and should be very low maintenance. However, they are not cheap when new and won’t be as low-maintenance as Rega/ Vertere/ Well-Tempered or any of the other no-suspension decks, and a Technics SL1200G must be the lowest effort/ maintenance of the lot.
Canada also offers Pure Fidelity turntables like the Eclipse. In the words of one well-known reviewer: -The Eclipse combines the PRAT (pace, rhythm, and timing) of an RP8, the dynamics and resolution of a Clearaudio Ovation and a bottom end I’d more closely associate with something like a Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker deck.
I have not heard an Eclipse. However, if the above is fair and if it is price competitive for you, that might also be worth a listen.
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I had my 1200G playing within an hour of opening the box. From what I’ve heard the high end Regas aren’t very difficult to set up either.
fwiw when I was upgrading my TT recently, I decided that most turntables around the budget level I was considering should sound good. I managed to audition 3, all with the same cartridge.
The dealer I chose offered the audition facility, and had a lot of other decks I could have listened to. My short list was built from decks I’d either researched, or thought I’d like to own.
All three swapped top spot SQ wise, so in the end I decided less on SQ, as they all had strengths and weaknesses there, and more on practicality and feel good factor. Even then it was hard turning down the Gyrodec SE/Technoarm - which is a stunning deck, and Origin Live Aurora/Encounter - which is also a remarkable TT with an off-the-charts nice arm.
I decided against Rega and Linn, mostly to own something different - I chose to assume they’d sound good, likely better and worse than the three I auditioned, and at the end of the day what would a bad choice look like!? “Oh no, I bought this lovely Michell Gyrodec, I really should have bought the Technics because I remember it did bass sightly better on this track even though the Michell does the voices better!!”
The Technics does do bass nicely, the Michell does voices extremely well… oh damn 
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Nicely conveyed 
That about sums up the dilemma when choosing between several same or similar options. ( For any high value or considered purchase decision).
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If a P8 doesn’t easily beat digital there is something wrong with the setup.
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Particularly when compared to overpriced Chinese stuff…
Or overpriced old botoxed bouncing scotish lady ….
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That’s not very nice for an old girl of such distinction!
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As a former LP12 and Rega user, I can only agree.
Never thought I should end into that camp.
100C if you don’t like the DJ look of MK7, GR or G.
If budget is unlimited look for Vertere or Naia.
Sondek is dead, long live the new king.
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I find I’m drawn to Vertere. Not only the looks but the great reviews. DG1 is a steal at the price and the MG1 must be very attractive at used prices although I’ve not seen one on eBay yet. It’s highly likely that my 2nd system will end up getting replaced by a DG1 and a pair of Dynaudio Focus 30s if I ever manage to upsticks and move abroad.
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A friend and I did some comparisons between and old and mid-range LP12, £14K of Vertere and bottom of the range (but still more expensive) Brinkmann. It was a smaller gap than you’d guess from many of the comments here.
For dynamic drama and tonal neutrality, the LP12 was just behind Vertere and the Brinkmann was a little better again. For pretty much everything else, further non-cheap upgrades to Vertere and Brinkmann were needed to make either of them clear winners - as presented on day 1, they really didn’t make me step away from LP12s. However, if I were spending £25K on a new turntable, it wouldn’t go too Glasgow.
The key difference to my mind is that we can build/ buy a great LP12 without buying all of it new at the eye-watering list prices: that’s a lot less easy with an SG-1, MG-1, Bardo or Balance.
And none of that disagrees with the suggestions here that, if you want a new turntable, Rega and Technics are surely still the VFM and easy-life options.
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It needs a Krane to get somewhere nowadays.
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I remember maybe 15 years ago, I compared at a dealer place a quite top specs Lp12 vs the Rega Rp10 . The phono was the same and cartridges were similar level.
I couldn’t say which one was the clear winner. The Rp10 was however costing more than half the price.
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I wanted to say “ the Rp10 was costing less than half the price “ of the Lp12 full specs at that time. ( around 2010 I think)
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Excellent!!
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To be honest; I’ve never compared the Rega P8 with any of the Linn LP12 versions/ incarnations … I just love the ease of setting-up a Rega which is a delight to me and I wanted to stay away from the (extensive) upgrade path which is available for the LP12’s out there …
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