clarets2
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Vintage Linn LP 12...still viable?
Yiangos
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Hi Peter and welcome to the forum.What i am about to tell you is not meant as "stay away from Linn Sondek" but rather to make you understand what you are about to commit yourself into.First of all,don't purchase a turntable online
Get it secondhand from a dealer.That way you are going to have some sort of quarantee that it is in workable condition
and if something goes wrong,he will fix/replace it.Spare parts can be quite expensive.Second and equally important,if
you really want a Sondek make sure you know what you're doing.This is not a table for a newbie or someone who isn't experienced in turntable setup.It is a table that needs MANY hours to setup correctly and needs adjustment every now and then.It is not a fit-and-forget table.I used to own one and i know.I am sure you read somewhere you can't sneeze
next to a Sondek.Well,it's true lol It will need adjustemnt.
But,if in the end you decide on purchasing one,the music it makes is a dream !

ohfourohnine
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If you haven't done so already, you might want to check out Art Dudley's feature in the January 2007 issue on LP12 mods - why they're needed and what it takes to pull them off. If that doesn't lead you to look at other turntables within your budget range, then good luck. My answer to your subject question would be a resounding no - unless you like working on gear more than listening to music.

clarets2
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Many thanks for your kind welcome to the forum.
Could you give me a starter list for the lowest maintenance tables that might compliment the rest of my Linn gear.

Friend has a vintage Acoustic Research table which seems to be fairly tweak free....any views on AR?

Many thanks, Peter.

ohfourohnine
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Lots of us, Peter, have fond memories of the time we spent with AR turntables, but that was yesterday. If it were my $1000 to spend today, I'd consider the Music Hall MMF-5 turntable with the supplied Goldring cart. and the Bellari Tube Phono Preamp. That would set you back a little less than $900.

Another tempting combination would be the Project RM5, with the same Bellari phono preamp. That combo gets you to about $900 but without a cartridge. For the rest of your $1000 you could add a Shure 97xE, a Sumico Pearl, or a Grado Prestige Blue. My choice among those would be the Shure. If you pushed the budget about another hundred you could be looking at the Grado Prestige Gold. That, I think, would be another hundred well spent.

You might want to consider pushing a little more of the budget to the TT/cart by substituting a less expensive phono pre from Parasound or ProJect. Each offers a respected product for about $100 less than the Bellari, but I've heard neither of them. I have heard the Bellari, and I think it is a great product for the money.

This vicarious shopping is fun. I'd better quit and let someone else chime in.

All the best,

tomjtx
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get the linn but only a full blown one and only with a graham tonearm. That way , once you have spent weeks adjusting the Linn you will need a few more weeks tweaking the weights on the graham, by the time the graham is ready the tt will be out of whack again. After a few months you will get to hear one side of an LP and be in sonic heaven . By the end of the side everything will need adjusting again.
The best ting about this is it wont leave you any time to spend even more money on other equipment. After a year of this you will be so frustrated you will sell all your equipment and actually be able to send your kids to college.

Isn't audiophilia great? :-)

Buddha
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Cheapskate gives great advice.

I just wish there were a wider array of choices at that price point.

For the dollars you do have, I agree that an unsuspended table would probably provide the best value.

As always, even though I don't own one, I'd recommend listening to the cheapest VPI table and arm you could swing. They have excellent upgrade paths for their tables that make your money today have more value as you want to move up the sonic scale in the future.

If you do go with a used table, consider the Michell Tecnodec or maybe even a vintage Gyrodec.

Both have an open upgrade pathway and are easily maintained. Additionally, they are very easy to "untweak" if to try a tweak that isn't to your liking.

They are incredibly well machined and quite bullet proof.

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