Linn Sondek Lingo lp 12 A definitive guide????

[baldbeats]

Recently inherited an lp 12 with lingo psu. I just wondered what to use as the definitive guide to setting up the turntable. Have a wall mounted Target stand to start off and the t.table has been serviced. New Dynavector cartridge fitted. Just want to have everything set up
correctly. Thank you.

 

[chebby]

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/linn/lp-12-sondek.shtml (you need to be logged in to download manuals)

http://www.theanalogdept.com/linn_lp-12.htm

http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=9941

You'll need one of these Linn setup jigs...

Better yet, get your approved Linn dealer to set it up for you.

 

[floyd droid]

Hey Chebby , if I read correctly the TT has been serviced . He just wants advice on where to stick it etc.

Off but on Topic , I got an LP12 thrust at me last friday to 'give the once over and fit a cart '.

lol , this could be fun.

 

[chebby]

...advice on where to stick it ..

Don't tempt me.

 

[floyd droid]

Ha ha , I resisted as I've been accused of Trolling today/last night already.

Cant type ,without mega edits, what I told the old boy to do with it when he thrust it in my mits. Its been mothballed for donkeys yrs to boot.

 

[chebby]

Linn's latest instructions ...

http://small.linncdn.com/product-catalogue/documents/Linn_Sondek_LP12_Owners_Manual.pdf

 

[floyd droid]

Allready got them plus another rain forests worth of print offs. But thanks all the same Chebby.

 

[floyd droid]

Well Chebby if you are looking in......

What a crock of s***e !!. Terrible build quality ,small wonder folk have problems with em if they happen to be a tad ham fisted. I would like to think that Linn have upped the ante over the yrs. Also I really do think the Linn freaks muck around with them for something to do half the time. Or is it a case of Linn ocd ?.

Nowt to it really. Tone arm cable dressing is the crux from what I could see in the bowels of the beast , baring that tis a walk in the park. I mean come on its three ruddy springs not rocket science.

Gawd knows how long it has been in its box but the main problem I had was the cart tags , mega oxidised meant pliers coupled with brute force and ignorance ,lol. So I donated some new head shell wires nailed the cart on and off we go.......

Span a few albums and got bored, ha ha.

Oh yeah ,this is where I get hate mail from Linnites , the velvet mat is ruining yer fun. Sounds much better with an Origin live mat.

@ the OP. I just plonked it down ,level,on a light weight side table. Jobs a good un.

 

[chebby]

Well Chebby if you are looking in......

What a crock of s***e !!. Terrible build quality ,small wonder folk have problems with em...

You don't need to convince me. I have heard plenty of them in the past. Never liked any of them.

When it comes to bouncy Castles i'd prefer to go Swiss/German and buy a completely overhauled vintage Thorens.

Once upon a long time ago I bought a Walker CJ 55and Rega RB300 (with a one-off high gloss rosewood plinth) costing way less than half the price of a Sondek with no arm at all. A friend and colleague bought a Manticore Manta (with Linn LVX) on the same day, from the same shop. Both of us concluded that our TTs actually sounded better than the 'reference' LP12/Ittok/Troika on dem at the time.

If you like a musical experience resembling the effects of the Orange Man whacking your ears (You've Been Tango'ed!) then the Linn is a natural choice. Otherwise it's a charmless, hectoring, bully that can only be thanked for putting me off Dire Straits for life

 

[floyd droid]

Otherwise it's a charmless,

As I said ,I got bored.

 

[CnoEvil]

If you like a musical experience resembling the effects of the Orange Man whacking your ears (You've Been Tango'ed!) then the Linn is a natural choice. Otherwise it's a charmless, hectoring, bully that can only be thanked for putting me off Dire Straits for life

Reminds me of "The Marching Season".........maybe why I liked mine!

 

[floyd droid]

Twas the first time I've actually been into the guts of one ,hence my post. Heard a few in the past but the aural memory is pretty rubbish , until I dropped the needle.

Like anything I guess isnt Cno , one mans meat is anothers lobster.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

A properly fettled LP12 is one of the finest turntables ever made. It's a shame the original marketing got up people's noses so much, they don't know what they're missing.

 

[CnoEvil]

A properly fettled LP12 is one of the finest turntables ever made. It's a shame the original marketing got up people's noses so much, they don't know what they're missing.

We agree! :O

........I'd buy you a pint of the Black Stuff if you were within reach.

:cheers:

 

[CnoEvil]

Twas the first time I've actually been into the guts of one ,hence my post. Heard a few in the past but the aural memory is pretty rubbish , until I dropped the needle.

Like anything I guess isnt Cno , one mans meat is anothers lobster.

IMO. It had a touch too much character (1980s versions), in terms of a mid-range bloom....which I liked, though it wasn't neutral. It would have been a bit much if matched with a warm amp.

 

[floyd droid]

Got a feeling this one is easily 30 yrs old. Twas the build quality or lack thereof that got my back up. Tad flimsy to say the least. Anyways I'm sure the old boy will be pleased as I gave it a good clean while I was on.

 

[lindsayt]

A properly fettled LP12 is one of the finest turntables ever made. It's a shame the original marketing got up people's noses so much, they don't know what they're missing.

Where would you put it? Top 5? Top 10? Top 100? Top 500? Top 1000 turntables ever made?

I'd rate it as somewhere between the top 100 and 500 turntables ever made.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Rated at no 1 in many mags - but at an all up price of around the $15000 mark new.

Seriously, prejudice is so blind when it comes to the LP12 because of the allegedly iffy marketing (less obvious in Oz, it has to be said) that people forget how good the deck is from an engineering perspective. I think Roy Gandy admitted the bearing in the LP12 cost far more to manufacture alone than his entire contemporaneous (I think) Planar 3.

I can't answer your question, I haven't heard 100 turntables nor done a comparison, except with a handful, but I haven't heard better that I recollect. Even the Lencos and Garrards people rave about now don't come close.

 

[CnoEvil]

Rated at no 1 in many mags - but at an all up price of around the $15000 mark new.

Seriously, prejudice is so blind when it comes to the LP12 because of the allegedly iffy marketing (less obvious in Oz, it has to be said) that people forget how good the deck is from an engineering perspective. I think Roy Gandy admitted the bearing in the LP12 cost far more to manufacture alone than his entire contemporaneous (I think) Planar 3.

I can't answer your question, I haven't heard 100 turntables nor done a comparison, except with a handful, but I haven't heard better that I recollect. Even the Lencos and Garrards people rave about now don't come close.

Here is how Stereophile rated it in 2012: http://www.stereophile.com/content/2012-recommended-components-turntables-tonearms-cartridges-etc

Nb. Like you, I haven't heard more than a handful of TTs, so can't make a proper judgement.

 

[lindsayt]

My LP12 is the 3rd best sounding record player in my house. I've heard Garrard 301's and 401's and modded Lencos that I'd rate above the LP12. The Garrards and Lencos just need a decent arm and cartridge to beat the LP12. There are lots of direct drives I'd rate above the LP12 too.

There's no way that I'd rate the LP12 in the top 20 turntables ever made. And so therefore I couldn't describe it as one of the finest ever made.

The Stereophile ratings only included turntables that were in production at that time. Most of the turntables that beat the LP12 are no longer in production.

There are also lots of turntables I'd rate below the LP12, such as the Rega Planar 3 and SME 20/12a.

 

[lindsayt]

The under the bonnet engineering of the LP12 is not that good. Tiny inexpensive motors. Unsophisticated speed control. Wooden armboards, pressed steel chassis - which can be upgraded to an alloy one for considerable cost. Platter free to wobble relative to the motor. Relatively small main bearing. Relatively lightweight platter for a turntable relying on inertia to maintain pitch stability. Undamped, bell shaped metallic platter. Arm cable as 4th component in the suspension. Small springs...

The LP12 is the Linn modded clone of the Ariston RD11, which in turn is a copy of the AR XA, which is also similar to the Thorens TD150. The TD150 was the budget model in the Thorens line-up. The Thorens group made much more expensive turntables which unsurprisingly do sound better than the TD150 / RD11 / LP12.

 

[alchemist 1]

A properly fettled LP12 is one of the finest turntables ever made. It's a shame the original marketing got up people's noses so much, they don't know what they're missing.

IT's last of the summer wine.................

Now where's that ferret ?

 

[altruistic.lemon]

The under the bonnet engineering of the LP12 is not that good. Tiny inexpensive motors. Unsophisticated speed control. Wooden armboards, pressed steel chassis - which can be upgraded to an alloy one for considerable cost. Platter free to wobble relative to the motor. Relatively small main bearing. Relatively lightweight platter for a turntable relying on inertia to maintain pitch stability. Undamped, bell shaped metallic platter. Arm cable as 4th component in the suspension. Small springs...

The LP12 is the Linn modded clone of the Ariston RD11, which in turn is a copy of the AR XA, which is also similar to the Thorens TD150. The TD150 was the budget model in the Thorens line-up. The Thorens group made much more expensive turntables which unsurprisingly do sound better than the TD150 / RD11 / LP12.

'Fraid you got it a bit wrong, old chap! The original, in terms of suspension, was the AR, whose ideas Thorens followed with the TD 150. The Ariston built on both, but used a bearing that only one local company had the ability to engineer, and that was Linn. They later modifies and patented that bearing.

Never seen platter wobble on a Linn, nor on a Thorens, the engineering denies this. You also omit to mention the power supply, which was quickly changed by Linn when they produced the first LP12s. You also forgot the bracing, not to mention all the improvements Linn have made over the years.

I've worked on Lencos in the past. Rubbish arm, cheap particleboard, bottom held in with tiny screws that quickly lose their thread, which is a shame as the metal bar they hold in place is an integral part of the suspension. Build quality varied from turntable to turntable - oddly enough we found the Italian made versions better (sometimes )than the German ones. Rumble a major problem unless you got a good one, or were prepared to spend ages with that sometimes plastic, sometimes metal rim drive.

Whatever you may say or think about Linn, they consistently improved their turntable, and it is one of the reasons vinyl is with us still. The Lencos, Garrards, Systemdeks, Aristons not to mention the Japanese turntables are all long since gone.

 

[floyd droid]

'Fraid you got it a bit wrong, old chap! The original, in terms of suspension, was the AR, whose ideas Thorens followed with the TD 150. The Ariston The Lencos, Garrards, Systemdeks, Aristons not to mention the Japanese turntables are all long since gone.

Whoops !.

Brain Food

 

[lindsayt]

The under the bonnet engineering of the LP12 is not that good. Tiny inexpensive motors. Unsophisticated speed control. Wooden armboards, pressed steel chassis - which can be upgraded to an alloy one for considerable cost. Platter free to wobble relative to the motor. Relatively small main bearing. Relatively lightweight platter for a turntable relying on inertia to maintain pitch stability. Undamped, bell shaped metallic platter. Arm cable as 4th component in the suspension. Small springs...

The LP12 is the Linn modded clone of the Ariston RD11, which in turn is a copy of the AR XA, which is also similar to the Thorens TD150. The TD150 was the budget model in the Thorens line-up. The Thorens group made much more expensive turntables which unsurprisingly do sound better than the TD150 / RD11 / LP12.

'Fraid you got it a bit wrong, old chap! The original, in terms of suspension, was the AR, whose ideas Thorens followed with the TD 150. The Ariston built on both, but used a bearing that only one local company had the ability to engineer, and that was Linn. They later modifies and patented that bearing.

Never seen platter wobble on a Linn, nor on a Thorens, the engineering denies this. You also omit to mention the power supply, which was quickly changed by Linn when they produced the first LP12s. You also forgot the bracing, not to mention all the improvements Linn have made over the years.

I've worked on Lencos in the past. Rubbish arm, cheap particleboard, bottom held in with tiny screws that quickly lose their thread, which is a shame as the metal bar they hold in place is an integral part of the suspension. Build quality varied from turntable to turntable - oddly enough we found the Italian made versions better (sometimes )than the German ones. Rumble a major problem unless you got a good one, or were prepared to spend ages with that sometimes plastic, sometimes metal rim drive.

Whatever you may say or think about Linn, they consistently improved their turntable, and it is one of the reasons vinyl is with us still. The Lencos, Garrards, Systemdeks, Aristons not to mention the Japanese turntables are all long since gone.

No I did not get it wrong. I said that the RD11 is a copy of the AR XA, which is also similar to the TD150. I did not say which one came first, the XA or the TD150. I merely said that they are similar. Hamish Robertson, the RD11 / LP12 designer owned an AR XA.

I've never seen platter wobble on any decent turntable. Engineering bearings that don't allow platter wobble is easy. All you need is a lathe, a grinding machine and optionally a polishing machine. The power supplies on the LP12 - Valhalla or Lingo or Radikal are not sophisticated in terms of motor speed control. Not compared to a properly engineered direct drive turntable.

The corner bracing of the LP12 wooden plinth is no big deal in engineering terms. Compare the plinth of the LP12 to the Trio L07D, or the Pioneer P3a or the EMT 950.

As for the Lenco - have a look at Arthur Salvatore's high end audio website to see what he thinks of them after they've been modded and fitted with a good arm and cartridge. He has vast experience in high end vinyl sources.

One of the major reasons for Lencos and Garrards no longer being with us is that they were out-marketed by Linn.

The major reason for Japanese direct drives not being made any more is that the big corporates moved onto CD players.