Linn Karousel

[NSNO2021]

One of the reasons I sold my LP12 earlier this year was Linn's desire to extract as much money as they could from LP12 owners. The other was I preferred the sound of the Planar 8 when I demoed it. I had my LP12 circa 28 years and enjoyed it but today there's a lot more choice and to my way of thinking a lot more value available.

[karatestu]

I hate profiteering in any shape or form, a view I shared with the late Doc. That is what I suspect is happening with this bearing although the cirkus bearing was already £500 or thereabouts .

As a LP12 owner I feel entitled to comment. I could afford to buy one tomorrow if i wanted but no way is that going to happen. My pre cirkus bearing is doing fine and will probably last longer than I will. I stand by everything I said in the OP especially the words sheep, herd, fan boys and fleecing.

It is quite amusing to watch the keep up with the Jones' behaviour as all the well to do, never happy brigade scrabble to be the next to wax lyrical about the latest veil to have been lifted.

This word sums it up nicely ............BAAAA

[Ordinaryman]

As I have said I still own and have since new a lenco 75 . I brought the linn because it sounded better to me. This was after a "home loan" by Radford hifi Windsor, something I'm sure you wouldn't get these days. I am just as reluctant to spend money on the Lenco as I am to the linn. As for Clearaudio I have no idea.

[CN211276]

I stand by everything I said in the OP especially the words sheep, herd, fan boys and fleecing.

Lets face it they have been sharks from the outset when Ivor stole Hamish Robinson's design and stabed him in the back. And don't forget that Ivor lined the pockets of the Thatcher government to get Trading Standards off his back.

[TroutFisher]

The whole Linn upgrade thing is a total con. Those that sign up for this upgrade are being fleeced. Just compare the cost of the original TT from say 40 years ago, calculate the over time inflation value and the price you arrive at is considerably less than the current marketing price. Linn have engaged in a program of upgrades, but at the same time always nudging up the overall product price. This is and always has been profiteering.

I had an LP12 Valhalla for a short while many years ago. Thankfully, I saw through the profiteering crap. Thereafter, owning TT’s from Thorens, Origin Live (original diy kit TT), Michell Orb’d Gyro, Garrard 401, I am now well happy with a good Denon DP-80 direct drive mounted in a substantial home built CLD plinth. It’s a 1980’s TT never originally sold in the U.K. because of the magazine manufactured dominance on the market at the time of Linn, Rega, Roksan, Pink and a few others. All belt drive and therefore, all wrong.

My Denon DP-80, coupled with an Audiomods Series 6 and a Hana ML is for me, perfect. YMMV.

[karatestu]

Nice deck the DP-80. No faffing about spending a fortune on new bearings, sub chassis', motors and psu's. Just sit back and enjoy the music

[CN211276]

It was a Richard Dunn turntable bake-off on pfm about 12 years ago that turned me on to there being valid alternatives to the LP12.

In that bake-off Zener's LP12 lost. To a couple of very inexpensive Japanese direct drives from the 70's / 80's.
Zener sold his LP12 shortly after the bake-off.

I went down the EMT route and am delighted that I did. My LP12 (topish spec from Linn for the 1990's) sounded like a child turntable, whilst the EMT's sounded like grown up turntables. My EMT's reproduce music with an authority that is lacking in my LP12.
It's like my full sized EV corner horns have an in room authority lacking in my Linn Saras and Isobariks.
All of which is understandable when you look at the under the bonnet engineering.

There are plenty of great direct and idler drive alternatives to the LP12.

One thing that amuses me is the rhetoric when forum posters say "Have you heard the Karousel on the LP12 and how good it is on it? If you haven't how can you knock it?"

When anyone can easily retort with "Have YOU heard the alternatives to the LP12? Pioneer Exclusives, EMT's, well modded / sorted Lenco's and Garrards, Denon, Sony, Kenwood, Technics direct drives etc etc etc...?"

And the daft thing is, some Linn owners are sooo emotionally vested in their Linn Products that even when they hear a better alternative they refuse to acknowlege it, because it doesn't sound like an LP12.
That woolly based, variable pitched (especially if you walk next to the turntable support) hypnotic upper frequencies - like a small ringing handbell thing.
So they tend to have speakers with lean, unextended bass, and think that sacharine sweet treble is the ultimate in fidelity.

When the best sounding systems reproduce bass drums with tightness, texture, and dynamics and cymbals sound like a wooden stick hitting a metallic disk.

[Alfi]

All valid points Gents, but put a decent chassis and non sprung suspension/isolation and it turns it into a much more capable transcriber. But the caveat is we all have our likes/dislikes in music itself, genres, plus the aesthetics of deck/associated equipment and also that we hear differently.

Checkout my sig to see I've tried many different drive types and I some more TT's I've not listed.

Enjoy what you have and like to the full with gusto.


Alfi.

[karatestu]

I see there are more Linn 12 upgrades. I give you the new Linn LP12 Klimax. Sounds dirty. The best turntable in the universe has just got even better It's fffing ridiculous if you ask me. Not a single penny more will I spend on mine. The PL71 will be my favourite of the two decks I have out of principal and when that dies I will be getting one of those new Technics jobbies.

This link is hilarious.

https://mailchi.mp/linn/organik-t ... 2f7f5ae0f

[Fretless]

That's so Radikal, I'm simply Ekstatik!