LINN SONDEK Lp-12 preliminary review (Long)

[maxg]

Almost forgot:

Some reviews???

http://202.186.86.35/audio/printerfr...&sec=audiofile
(RPM 4)
http://www.audioenz.co.nz/2003/project_rpm9.shtml
(RPM 9)
http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_print.asp?ID=2544
(RPM 6)

Let me know if you want more - needless to say none of them agree with your assessment.

[Sealed]

Almost forgot:

Some reviews???

http://202.186.86.35/audio/printerfr...&sec=audiofile
(RPM 4)
http://www.audioenz.co.nz/2003/project_rpm9.shtml
(RPM 9)
http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_print.asp?ID=2544
(RPM 6)

Let me know if you want more - needless to say none of them agree with your assessment.

I missed the TAS , stereophile or other reliable review, I just see two reviews from the pacific rim by vinyl newbies, and this:

"The RPM 6 It might not be quite as detailed and as tonally neutral as the turntable used as reference point...Perhaps it lacks the brilliant finish and the last level of information retrieval of the SME, perhaps it isn't quite as musical as a Linn LP12 or have as much deep bass as a Nottingham Analogue or a VPI."

That doesn't say it's great, or big league, it just says it's good, and no match for high end at all. I paid $1150 for my lp-12, ittok arm and k-18 cart. That's about the same as an RPM 9, and yet is galactically better. So the price references are worthless due to the amount of used LP-12's since 1972. If I was gonna spend a grand, I'd not waste it on a project. The review above could as well be of a Rega P-3/rb300/super elys cart. Not bad, not big league. IOW the RPM 6 is not in the class of high end. It's a good middle of the road player. You can do home mods all day long, but that makes it no more of a pro-ject product than a Nascar racer is a production consumer Chevrolet.

The Hi-fi choice guys were oogling the SME, Michell and Rega products at the Bristol show, not the project line. They say different things in person than in print. You really think the author of the review would want an RPM-6 over a VPI jr? dream on.

[spacedeckman]

Sealed, your sounding like a unauthorized mouthpiece for Linn. Have you seen the Wendy's ads with the guy who's pretending to be their spokesman. Good grief, your posts are nothing more than pomp and propaganda. Much more of this and Ivor is going to want to take you out behind the factory. I've met Ivor, and he doesn't get as wound up about the LP12 as you do, and he can get pretty dang wound up.

Look, the LP12 is a great table, no denying it. They did some really stupid things when they designed it, but, there have been really cool fixes for most of them from other companies. But still, it is a great table. It gets compared a lot because it has been around so long, and is an audiophile staple. Most people into vinyl have experienced one...or more. It isn't because it is the absolute reference, just the familiarity of a good table, and a well known reference point. I'd like another to do some of extremephono's carbon fiber mods...now that looks cool, and makes more sense. Many people are very attached to the LP12, and have been for decades, not weeks. This is where I have my problem with your posts...you haven't even broken your cartridge in yet and you are proclaiming in absolutes. You are beating up on a guy with a Project table because it isn't a Linn, and isn't up to your standards, instead of trying to make the vinyl world a better place for all of us. No, you aren't a Linnie, they are more civilized...I know a few. You are like a Bose guy in a crowd of audiophiles, justifying your position because of the writings (notice I didn't say opinions, they are often different than what they write) they spew out on a monthly basis that supports your buying decision. Personally, I'm amused when they agree with me, and more so when they don't. Keep in mind, they write to pay the rent, and the advertisers in the magazines they write for provide his paycheck.

MaxG, quit egging him on. Your Project is fine, you are happy with it and that's what counts. I feel your annoyance, but you are getting just as shrill. I admire the fact that you have modded your table, and not settled for what came out of the box. It's a good sign that your search continues. You don't need to justify your choice, Sealed hasn't figured that one out either, since nobody here cares why, just what makes you happy with it and what do you have to share with the rest of the class. Not much interested in what other people who I know nothing about think about your table. Other peoples justification for your purchase doesn't carry much weight with me, or many others.

Now be nice to each other, before I have to open up a can of whoop-a$$ on the both of you.

[Sealed]

Sealed, your sounding like a unauthorized mouthpiece for Linn. Have you seen the Wendy's ads with the guy who's pretending to be their spokesman. Good grief, your posts are nothing more than pomp and propaganda. Much more of this and Ivor is going to want to take you out behind the factory. I've met Ivor, and he doesn't get as wound up about the LP12 as you do, and he can get pretty dang wound up.

Now be nice to each other, before I have to open up a can of whoop-a$$ on the both of you.

Grasshopper,
Confucious say...read posts closer. My posts include SME, Michelle, VPI, LINN etc.

The last line in my last post:
"You really think the author of the review would want an RPM-6 over a VPI jr? dream on."

Has nothing to do with LINN. The crux is this:

Last night, when I went back to the shop to pick up my rosewood KEF 104/2 (2nd owner mmmm rosewood) the dealer had a project RPM-6 pulled apart alongside a Townsend rock TT. The RPM- 6 had crude bearings, poor engineering, it was sad.

Now , my point for the folks who are thinking I am becoming the "CE" of the LINN Lp-12:

You cannot hotrod a POS like a re-ject...err Pro-ject to equal the sound or quality of a high end deck that has precision parts, bearings, engineering, platters, etc. Hence my YUGO reference. You turbocharge a Yugo with brembo brakes, and koni gas-a-just shocks it's still a Yugo.

That means LINN, Nottinghams SPACEDECK (man) VPI, SME, Michelle, Townsend, or anything else built properly to begin with.

The Re-jects...oops pro-jects sound good...but they are not equal to the big boys. If you replace the arm with a rega RB600, a cart with a grado reference, the platter with a rockport, the power supply with a lingo, the suspension with a Cirkus...then it is no longer a Pro-ject.

And to recap the headlines from this thread: I like many high end decks, not just LINN. And I have 5 years of auditioning high end and comparing. I could be just as happy with a spacedeck, a scout, an orbe or whatever for different reasons because unlike project, they are high end.

There is good, there is great, and there is silk purse from a sows ears pretending it's great.

[maxg]

You re right of course and I will defer further comment. I was, as you say, irritated by a pompous ass that thinks he knows it all and declares this rubbish on a public forum.

But I was enjoying him contradicting himself time and again in the posts...

[Sealed]

You re right of course and I will defer further comment. I was, as you say, irritated by a pompous ass that thinks he knows it all and declares this rubbish on a public forum.

But I was enjoying him contradicting himself time and again in the posts...

That's a lot of shi7 to flow out of your mouth. Someone with a 12 year old-s woodworking ability. I know, you are an 18 year old kid who's dad told him that he could make a world-class turntable out of a cheap POS with junk he piles togeather in his basement.

The only rubbish on this public forum is your pathetically bad looking frankenstein attempt at DIY. If it had looked like an adult put effort into it I would not be laughing at you.

You build crap, from crap, looks like crap, you declare it sounds better than high end decks, and can't remember where you did the a/b to blow away a clearaudio. That sounds like a walking and talking A$$hole to me.

Show you are not a pompous ass by not ever reading, or polluting a thread with my name on it again. There was no reason for you to do it in the first place. Any further of your inane interjections I will simply take as hostile and treat them as such. Go away.

[E-Stat]

Guys, guys, let's all remember that we who listen to vinyl today are very much in the minority. A Band of Brothers. So long as we're not using a Technics SL-1200 with a Stanton nail, we're cool, right?

Lucky lad that I am, I'll be able to sample this gem again next month when I venture to Seacliff to visit with a friend.

rw