HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

PFM is the biggest UK hifi forum I would say. Wam is a snooze fest and three words daily is all you need to know about the one. What's this got 5o do with the LP12 ? Bugger alll .

We just had a little bonfire for the kids. I thought about what Doc would have said about this missed opportunity. I didn't put if on but it would make a good youtube video wouldn't it

Every time I skim one of "these" threads I thank Gawd I was never interested in hifi. Bought an Arcam Alpha 2 from new, and it sounded fine, so it lasted me years. It was only when I got a lump of redundancy pay I decided I could upgrade meaningfully, hence the NVA system. This also sounds good, and since setting it up I've never really touched it apart from adding a headphone amp.

I'd probably still have that Arcam in my second system if my bloody sister-in-law hadn't convinced my late wife to join eBay.

slinger wrote: ↑Fri Nov 05, 2021 8:48 pm Every time I skim one of "these" threads I thank Gawd I was never interested in hifi. Bought an Arcam Alpha 2 from new, and it sounded fine, so it lasted me years. It was only when I got a lump of redundancy pay I decided I could upgrade meaningfully, hence the NVA system. This also sounds good, and since setting it up I've never really touched it apart from adding a headphone amp.

I'd probably still have that Arcam in my second system if my bloody sister-in-law hadn't convinced my late wife to join eBay.

What no cable lifters ? Or grounding boxes?

I'm scared shitless that Richard would take to haunting me if I dared do something like that with an NVA setup.

or self builds Slinger

Computers don't count.

The latest upgrades to the LP12 probably won't be the last.

It's a turntable that could be upgraded from here to kingdom come without it ever becoming the best vinyl source in the world.
Because there are too many fundamentals that are flawed.

Upside-down pendulum - as Richard used to put it.
Tiny Scalextric sized motor - as I've put it a few times in the past.
Medium sized relatively undamped bell shaped flywheel, instead of a much more massive damped flywheel.
9" arms only.
Relatively small main bearing...

My letter and the response from Ivor should now be readable. From postimage.

There is also a letter from someone who thought the Systemdeck is better than the LP12.

Thanks for posting that. I am old enough to remember the earlier tests of the Linn where it was found to be lacking. Likewise some amplifiers that magically became must haves. Interesting that Thorens decided to abandon the long arm board for something less flexible and more appropriate when the TD160 was introduced. (That it was made of a soft plastic did it no favours but making a hardwood alternative was quick and easy.) Now why did Thorens do that but Linn, with a similar product, didn’t?

I have a TD160, now well over 40 years old I have replaced the hardboard base with a chipboard one, the arm mount with a hardwood part and fitted a new drive belt. Total cost in parts £15 from memory, a Linn owner could probably have bought a decent car for the amount spent on upgrades over that time.

The premise that the turntable needs to be isolated in the way the TD160 and the LP12 are is flawed. Anyone who has ever used a microphone in a professional system will know that ringing (a pre-feedback phenomenon) is relatively easily avoided by sensible placement relative to the speakers. A moving magnet or moving coil cartridge requires a rather more energetic input than does a microphone in my experience.

If you can accept that acoustic feedback between speakers and turntable isn’t a problem, at least not in a domestic environment, you will realise that spending thousands of pounds preventing it is an exercise in futility. Apparently a very profitable one at that.

Wall shelf and not playing too loud worked for me. And don't put the deck in a corner unless you have no other choice.

My LP12 is soon to be abandoned in favour of a Pioneer PL-71.

I've been collecting bits for years to make a nice belt drive TT. Some bits are from the LP12 (subchassis, bearing, inner platter), some from a Thorens (same), motors from R2R decks, arms from all over the place, and i can tell you that the linn bearing (of that era, plastic sleeved) was nothing special. The Thorens bearing and spindle had better materials and better tolerances. The linn inner platter was nicely machined, but the pressed metal subchassis was primitive to say the least. I have no idea what all the hype was about. It sounded similar to the AR turntable i had at the time. Not a bad thing, but <shrug>.