Linn LP12 Upgrade Questions

[Albert Hunt]

Hi,

At the moment I'm running an LP12 with the Cirkus bearing and subchassis, a Lingo 2, an Ittok LVII and a Benz Wood SH. It sounds great but of course I can't be satisfied. I'm going to move to a SUT and Benz low output cartridge but am curious regarding Linn upgrades such as the Ekos 2, Ekos SE/1, Kore, Keel, Lingo 4 and Radikal.

I recently listened to two identical Majik spec LP12s side by side, one with the Cirkus bearing and one with the Karousel. The Karousel'd LP12 had a more refined treble, tighter bass and perhaps faster transients, but I found the Cirkus'd LP12 more musically satisfying; specifically I found the sound stage larger, I felt closer to the musicians and the recording space felt more realistic (more similar to my own recording studio experience as a musician). This may be due to a hump in the bass and distorted treble (relative to the Karousel'd LP12), but those were my feelings.

I'm curious as to people's experience with the aforementioned upgrades - both positives and negatives.

[u252agz]

I had a similar experience to you with Cirkus/ Karousel last year and ended up having the Karousel on my majik swapped out for a new cirkus. It is a really great deck ( I have the Jelco arm) and very good value in my opinion.

I think there has been some issues with the correct torque of the Karousel bearing and quite a few members here now favour a lower one from the Linn recommended one. It would be interesting to hear how this new torque on the Karousel compares to Cirkus but do check the Karousel thread on this forum.

I will leave the power supply, chassis and arm upgrades for others to comment on but source first is the general rule for getting the most musical results.

[Tendaberry]

Do you know what torque values were used on the Karousel in the demo? I'm very happy about my upgrade to Karousel, especially since using the torque values recommended by Thomas OK.
If that's not for you, you should be saving up for a Radikal or at least a Lingo 4.

[John]

I’d be hesitant to upgrade to Karousel unless I had a Kore level subchassis or better.

[Discodave]

How come John?

[John]

How come John?

Not a fan of the stock steel subchassis with the Cirkus, much less the Karousel.

[Discodave]

What definciecies did you experience?

[linesrg]

Albert,

Can I play devils' advocate and suggest if you're looking to those levels of upgrades to your LP12 you could put say £7,500 to be a pre-owned Klimax DS/3............... :)

Regards

Richard

[sktn77a]

Can I play devils' advocate and suggest if you're looking to those levels of upgrades to your LP12 you could put say £7,500 to be a pre-owned Klimax DS/3............... :)

True. He could also buy a pre-owned car, but that's not what he wants.

;)

[ThomasOK]

Can I play devils' advocate and suggest if you're looking to those levels of upgrades to your LP12 you could put say £7,500 to be a pre-owned Klimax DS/3............... :)

True. He could also buy a pre-owned car, but that's not what he wants.

;)

And neither one will improve his LP12 perfromance. :-)