Linn LP 12... anyone else still like this design?

[No Regrets]

I'm still loving mine

 

[A-Line]

I always enjoy a photo op...

 

[A-Line]

Linn introduces their first ever plinth upgrade: Bedrok

Bedrok™ | Turntables | Linn USA

Experience the most solid upgrade for Sondek LP12 with Bedrok plinth technology. Low resonance and highly dense; get better performance from every component.

www.linn.co.uk

 

[buzzlulu]

This is old news as it is the same Plinth which first appeared one year ago on the LP12-50

At $11,350 many on the Naim and HiFi Kabin forums have speculated this will not be an easy sell for Linn.
Adding $11,350 to the already lofty price of a Klimax
LP12 at $32k puts the deck in a new neighborhood ($43k), one where there is significant competition.

I'm not quite sure the old lady can play in those lofty fields (spoken as someone who has owned a Klimax
LP12 for the past 25 years)

 

[A-Line]

This is old news as it is the same Plinth which first appeared one year ago on the LP12-50

At $11,350 many on the Naim and HiFi Kabin forums have speculated this will not be an easy sell for Linn.
Adding $11,350 to the already lofty price of a Klimax
LP12 at $32k puts the deck in a new neighborhood ($43k), one where there is significant competition.

I'm not quite sure the old lady can play in those lofty fields (spoken as someone who has owned a Klimax
LP12 for the past 25 years)

Linn is offering the new plinth as a separate add-on upgrade, prior to that it was only available as a LP12-50 anniversary table with the new plinth as a upgrade feature.

I've owned a LP12 since 1983. I passed on their phono stage & cartridge but have everything else.
I won't know if the new plinth is right for me or not until I do a audition. Not sure when the local Linn dealer will have a couple of tables set-up to demo the differences though...

 

[PROMITHEAS]

Hi Guys,
I've owned a LP12 which is model 1982 I love it. I change power supply from Valhalla to Hercules a long time ago but i have a small problem with the LED when i change the speed to 45 the blue light not come out, the speed work perfect.
My question is if i have to replace it with new LED or i have to replace entire switch?
Could you help me someone please.

 

[Sencha]

This is old news as it is the same Plinth which first appeared one year ago on the LP12-50

At $11,350 many on the Naim and HiFi Kabin forums have speculated this will not be an easy sell for Linn.
Adding $11,350 to the already lofty price of a Klimax
LP12 at $32k puts the deck in a new neighborhood ($43k), one where there is significant competition.

I'm not quite sure the old lady can play in those lofty fields (spoken as someone who has owned a Klimax
LP12 for the past 25 years)

I heard the Bedrok for the first time the other day and have to say, it sounded good to these ears. It may be a difficult sell for Linn due to the cost, but sell it will due to giving the table a sizeable uplift in performance. While it may be expensive, it’s a one off buy, unlike cartridges which for top end LP12 users, is getting close to the price of the Bedrok. I haven’t pulled the plug yet, will give it another listen in the next couple of weeks. It is very tempting though.

 

[buzzlulu]

I heard the Bedrok for the first time the other day and have to say, it sounded good to these ears. It may be a difficult sell for Linn due to the cost, but sell it will due to giving the table a sizeable uplift in performance. While it may be expensive, it’s a one off buy, unlike cartridges which for top end LP12 users, is getting close to the price of the Bedrok. I haven’t pulled the plug yet, will give it another listen in the next couple of weeks. It is very tempting though.

Thanks for your report.
To establish a baseline what is the current spec of your LP12?
Did you demo the Bedrock on its own or compared back to back with another equally setup LP12 at the dealer? Which dealer did you demo at?

 

[Sencha]

Hi Buzz, my LP12 is pretty much what you would call Klimax level other than I have an original Ekos SE and I’m still using a Kandid. The dealer had two equally set up decks one had a klimax radikal and the other an akurate cased radikal. Both decks were klimax level but had Kondo cartridges fitted. They were both going through the same pre, a Macintosh of some description into a pair of active ATC 100’s I think, easily enough to be able to tell the difference between the two decks. I live in Scotland so I’m guessing the dealer in question is not exactly round the corner from you? I’m sure he would be delighted for you to come and listen should you feel the call. I also have the Dartzeel 18/108 after 40 years of Naim, which I play through a pair of B&W 801 D4’s, a combination I am more than happy with.

 

[buzzlulu]

Hi Sencha
Thanks again for the in depth analysis. It sounds like the demo set up by the dealer was appropriate enough to make a comparison as, other than the differing Klimax vs. Akurate Radikals, they were essentially comparable decks.

It sounds like we have tread down similar paths - perhaps we may even know each other via the Naim forum as I have been there for about 25 years (glevethan) running many Naim components up the upgrade ladder. After running 552/500 DR's for the past 15 years I was ready for a change.

I am Stateside so not easy to do the demo. On top of that my dear friend Peter Swain has been coming over to this side of the pond for the past 15 years to look at my deck. I usually count on his advice. My problem is I have been a friend and client of Chris Harban since he started making plinths - so I am reticent to abandon my jeweled piece of art. Peter was just over in May and returned my deck to full Klimax level as I missed him during his previous trip over. The only things which make my deck non Klimax are my Aro tonearm, with me since 2005, Karmen top plate, and one of Chris's plinths. Other than that its full spec including Ekstatik.

I still think it is quite a bit of change to invest in the old fruit box.

 

[Sencha]

Buzz, indeed I have read many of your posts on the Naim forum, it seems you were due both a Naim and name change when you joined here! I see you Kudos speakers are gone also and have opted to move further away from the good old British sound. At the end of my journey with it I had accumulated 3 X 500’s into DBL’s and could never get it to sound right in my room. Too complicated and too easy to get sounding wrong. There’s one thing with the Dartz is that they always sound good, irrespective of what time of day they are on or what type of music is being played through them. Ok, they may not quite have the same slam as 3 X 500’s but it is marginal.

I bought an ebony Harban plinth from Peter but didn’t like it at all. It seemed to kill the life of my deck and was another 800 mile round trip to have it removed and my old black ash plinth reinstalled. Quite a relief in the end. I also had to fix my friends LP12 after he had a slightly slimmer Harban plinth fitted by Peter who thought it sounded fine. When we got it home we couldn’t get the arm board to sit level with the plinth. Turns out the plinth, being a few mm shorter (a mistake by Chris and sold to my friend at a reduced price knowing that) caused the spring hanging bolts to foul on the tramp. Sorted in the end by drilling three countersunk holes in the tramp baseboard to allow the spring hangers to sit into. Now it plays fine and is a beautiful plinth. That being said, although he was not happy with me returning the plinth, he put just as much effort into refitting my black ask plinth as I had witnessed him doing on any other deck.

I’d love an Ekstatik but is hard to justify while there is sill life in my Kandid.

With the Bedrock, you can hear more of everything………….everything! To me it’s bigger than a cartridge upgrade and is a one off purchase. For that reason to does justify the expenditure for sonic results alone. However, for many, the left brain will find it hard to justify $10k for a bit of plywood however hard the right brain cries, “BUY!”.

 

[A-Line]

Hi Guys,
I've owned a LP12 which is model 1982 I love it. I change power supply from Valhalla to Hercules a long time ago but i have a small problem with the LED when i change the speed to 45 the blue light not come out, the speed work perfect.
My question is if i have to replace it with new LED or i have to replace entire switch?
Could you help me someone please.

Greetings

You need to bring your LP12 to a Linn dealership to have a evaluation done in order to completely resolve any issues.
It would be my opinion that your power switch needs to be replaced. Your table likely needs a tune-up anyway.

Hope that this info helps.

 

[A-Line]

Buzz, indeed I have read many of your posts on the Naim forum, it seems you were due both a Naim and name change when you joined here! I see you Kudos speakers are gone also and have opted to move further away from the good old British sound. At the end of my journey with it I had accumulated 3 X 500’s into DBL’s and could never get it to sound right in my room. Too complicated and too easy to get sounding wrong. There’s one thing with the Dartz is that they always sound good, irrespective of what time of day they are on or what type of music is being played through them. Ok, they may not quite have the same slam as 3 X 500’s but it is marginal.

I bought an ebony Harban plinth from Peter but didn’t like it at all. It seemed to kill the life of my deck and was another 800 mile round trip to have it removed and my old black ash plinth reinstalled. Quite a relief in the end. I also had to fix my friends LP12 after he had a slightly slimmer Harban plinth fitted by Peter who thought it sounded fine. When we got it home we couldn’t get the arm board to sit level with the plinth. Turns out the plinth, being a few mm shorter (a mistake by Chris and sold to my friend at a reduced price knowing that) caused the spring hanging bolts to foul on the tramp. Sorted in the end by drilling three countersunk holes in the tramp baseboard to allow the spring hangers to sit into. Now it plays fine and is a beautiful plinth. That being said, although he was not happy with me returning the plinth, he put just as much effort into refitting my black ask plinth as I had witnessed him doing on any other deck.

I’d love an Ekstatik but is hard to justify while there is sill life in my Kandid.

With the Bedrock, you can hear more of everything………….everything! To me it’s bigger than a cartridge upgrade and is a one off purchase. For that reason to does justify the expenditure for sonic results alone. However, for many, the left brain will find it hard to justify $10k for a bit of plywood however hard the right brain cries, “BUY!”.

Interesting story. Thanks for posting.
I'm still waiting for the Linn dealership in my area to get a Bedrok for a A/B comparison.

Makes me wonder if some of the other wooden current plinth offerings from Linn might yield sonic differences?
I have a current production cherry wood plinth and wonder how that compares to other woods, like oak, walnut, ect for a plinth, if at all.

I currently have LP12 with Ekos SE, Keel, Radikal with Dynamik upgrade, and Karousel bearing.
My phono stage is EAR 324 and my pickup is a Lyra Kleos.

 

[Sencha]

A, I changed my plinth from black ask to oak and have to say, I didn’t notice much change in performance. I chose oak to go with my HiFi racks + my black ash was old and starting to look its age. The oak in contrast, after years of use, looks as good as the day it was fitted. The Bedrok does not do it for me in the looks department, but the sound department is a different ballgame all together.

 

[buzzlulu]

I have heard the official Linn plinths more or less sound the same

The idea of different woods having different sounds was put forth by Thomas O’Keefe who used to set up LP12s in Ann Arbor Michigan. He tested several of Chris Harban‘s plinths and came to the conclusion the hardest woods, if memory serves correctly Afromosia and Bubinga, we’re the best sounding

 

[A-Line]

I have heard the official Linn plinths more or less sound the same

The idea of different woods having different sounds was put forth by Thomas O’Keefe who used to set up LP12s in Ann Arbor Michigan. He tested several of Chris Harban‘s plinths and came to the conclusion the hardest woods, if memory serves correctly Afromosia and Bubinga, we’re the best sounding

That's very interesting. Thank you for posting!

 

[Newton John]

Last year, I got back into the LP12 world with a second hand Klimax. I upgraded it to current spec and changed the plinth to a more acceptable finish.

If I was buying a turntable now, I'd seriously consider starting off with a Majik LP12 and a Bedrok plinth for around the same cost. There's an argument to be made that this would be getting the fundamentals right first. I suspect this will ultimately become accepted as the Bedrok's place in the LP12 hierarchy.