Townsend elite rock TT

[CN211276]

Yet another company that suffered from being put down by Linn.

They did so much damage to the industry. When I heard the LP12, after reading the hype for years, it was a case of the king having no clothes on.

[Alfi]

I've done a little experimenting with some spare LP12 bits I had lying around:- a very nice early afro plinth, motor, inner platter and bearing. I've stripped the plinth of all those two poxy blocks and top plate support strips and supplanted a 12mm thick black acrylic top plate, Systemdek IIX sub-chassis & suspension to which I've installed the LP12 bearing and top plate. I've installed a self rewired RB 300 and Linn Basik aluminium outer platter to balance the suspension (the LP12 outer plater is too heavy).

How does it perform? Well to my ears far, far better than a reasonably spec'd LP12 with Cirkus, Lingo, Ittock LVIII. To be honest it blows it away.

Peter Dunlop appears to have understood suspended TT design far better than Ivor T. This one's a keeper for certain. Jesus there's no hope for me in thinning out my TT collection. From what I see of 70's/80's Systemedek's the plinths were cheap n' cheerful but the suspension was sorted.

Ivor appears to have stolen the wrong design for his LP12 as one version of the Ariston RD 11 had a better suspension geometry whereby he chassis was orientated diagonally but unfortunately still on compression springs.


Alfi.

[_D_S_J_R_]

Yet another company that suffered from being put down by Linn.

They did so much damage to the industry. When I heard the LP12, after reading the hype for years, it was a case of the king having no clothes on.

In the late 70's before the rawness of punk changed things for a while, many multi-track recordings sounded dry, multi-mono and airless. Played on a jap direct drive with period cartridge, the results could sound boring at home. A good working LP12 set up by a competent trained techie tended to make these recordings more interesting to listen to and more 'lifelike' at the time. Ok, this was done by adding character, but don't think jap solid-plinth decks were immune either, as so many have a mid-bass colouration if not carefully sited that's not that pleasant.

Apologies chaps. Attack Ivor and his Naim sidekick all you want, but the LP12 doesn't deserve all the shit chucked at it. Some were badly made (bad plinths and a batch of bad bearing housings could spoil the fun) and the Ittok tended to magnify the faults right up until the Cirkus and later plinths came along. The LP12 DID help make vinyl based music more interesting *at the time* but I accept that modern system setup has transformed the aforementioned Jap decks to standards above the time when they were made. Rega 3's in comparison could make piano notes run together, the sound more blurred and Regas were noisier in their drives through to the speakers too, but this may only be shown on headphones. This noise is certainly there though and the 24V motor doesn't fully eliminate it...

[Daniel Quinn]

LP12 does deserve the "shit kicked at it" because of the marketing mythology . It is a reasonable deck , that adds colouration on account of its construction , shit ac motor and belt drive wobble caused by springs in compression . It is not as the Linn website will still tell you "Unmatched over four decades, the LP12 is still the pinnacle of turntable design. A revolutionary icon."

Much of what you have said , you have said before . I remain perplexed as to the point you are trying to make . Placing the lp12 in its proper context is a service to hifi and its a pity so many 1970's and 80's dealers didn't do that , so away with your defence of the lp12 .

[antonio66]

Would be nice to see a photo of that Alfi, since I can't get my head round how the top plate is fitted.

[_D_S_J_R_]

LP12 does deserve the "shit kicked at it" because of the marketing mythology . It is a reasonable deck , that adds colouration on account of its construction , shit ac motor and belt drive wobble caused by springs in compression . It is not as the Linn website will still tell you "Unmatched over four decades, the LP12 is still the pinnacle of turntable design. A revolutionary icon."

Much of what you have said , you have said before . I remain perplexed as to the point you are trying to make . Placing the lp12 in its proper context is a service to hifi and its a pity so many 1970's and 80's dealers didn't do that , so away with your defence of the lp12 .

Name me a 1970's to early 80's deck that made 1970's multi-track music sound better off vinyl?

[CN211276]

In the early 80s the magazines were constantly recommending the LP12 partnered with the Rega arm, cheap cartridge, NAD 3020 amplifier and Wharfdale Shelton speakers or equivalent. This would wipe the floor with a system of around £500 comprising a TT/arm costing £140 - £200 and a better amplifier/speaker combination.

I checked this out for myself at Studio 99 auditioning the Rega Planar 3 against the LP12 through the NAD amp and highly regarded Boston budget speakers. The LP12 was in no way superior, would have cost over three times as much and would have been a nightmare to set up and stay set up. A friend agreed with me on the SQ comparison. The dealer was not happy and made adverse comments about my taste in music.

I bought the Rega and from that moment on my suspicions that something was rotten in the industry were confirmed 100%.

[Fretless]

I dreamed about owning a Gyrodeck back then - but had to settle for a Michell Focus One.

[Daniel Quinn]

PT , Roksan . Townsend ,voyd , NVA

And I am sorry I don't accept your premise that all Japenses DD decks made such tracks sound worse but now somehow miracously "modern set up" {wtf?} as alleviated this problem , it sounds like dealer mumbo jumbo to me .

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Excuses for past behaviour



Maybe