The starter Linn LP12 deck with moving coil cartridge option is a solid early step onto the LP12 ladder.
Linn Majik LP12 MC : Read more
Linn Majik LP12 MC : Read more
I bought my first LP12 in 1983. It came with a Ittok tonearm and a cheap Grado moving iron pickup. It sounded great to me. The only upgrade that I had done to that table was a Cirkus bearing. I maintained using cheap Grado pickups on that table until I sold it in 2006.The CONS are important here, I compared my 40 year old British built turntable with the previous LP12 Majik, the LP12 sounding somewhat pale and anemik in comparison.
Really awesome setupI bought my first LP12 in 1983. It came with a Ittok tonearm and a cheap Grado moving iron pickup. It sounded great to me. The only upgrade that I had done to that table was a Cirkus bearing. I maintained using cheap Grado pickups on that table until I sold it in 2006.
Prior to selling that table I had recorded a few records and select tracks from various LP's using my ReVox B77 MKII tape deck.
I bought a new LP12 Majik table in 2010. That table came with a Project 9cc tonearm and a Linn Adikt MM pickup. I never bothered to do a A/B comparison of my recordings using my old table vs the new Linn Majik table. I still play those tapes, mostly of live radio broadcasts of classical music, but a few tapes(24 in all, the other 576 tapes are of live radio broadcasts) and they still sound good to me but do have a dated sound when it comes to the records that I recorded. I still play my tapes using ReVox B77 MKII running through my ReVox B780 receiver, I purchased both brand new in 1983 same as the Linn LP12.
My current Linn table is fully upgraded minus the Radikal 2 & the Urika phono stage. I have a Radikal 1 D and use a McIntosh MA6500 integrated amp for amplification and a EAR Yoshino 324 phono stage with a Lyra Kleos MC pickup...