“If you haven’t heard it, then you definitely don’t have a bleepin’ opinion!”
Or far saltier phrases to that impact have been among the many first I heard from Ivor Tiefenbrun, the take-no-prisoners-or-BS founding father of Scotland’s Linn Products, Ltd.
This was roughly 1977 or ’78. I used to be a mere pup, barely 20, who’d landed a job at one of many Bay Area’s greatest high-end audio retailers, and Ivor was touring the States conducting supplier coaching and proselytizing all issues Linn.
Tiefenbrun’s gauntlet throw-down was directed at folks—and again within the Seventies there have been loads of them—who insisted that, so long as a turntable had no discernable wow, flutter, or different measurably operational flaws, document gamers made no actual contribution to the sound of an audio system. In different phrases, so long as they spun records roughly precisely, all of them sounded the identical; cartridge alternative however.
Today this simplistic notion appears ludicrous, as ever since that point the turntable’s paramount position in an analog-based audio system has been thought of apparent. And although Ivor wasn’t the one one preventing the battle, his was arguably the loudest and most passionate voice, and for that and the revolution in LP playback that continues to today we owe him our gratitude. (Tiefenbrun is an inductee to this journal’s High-End Hall of Fame.)
My then job’s biggest enjoyable got here from demonstrating Ivor’s level to prospects. Our store had a number of turntable setups, permitting prospects to check numerous manufacturers geared up with the identical cartridges. It is perhaps a Denon direct-drive or one among Rega’s early Planar belt-drives, however after a number of backs-and forths with the identical musical choice, the Linn invariably gained the competition because of its well-known potential to speak the emotion of the music—or put merely, that well-known “toe-tap-ability.” I even recall some after-hours listening periods spinning a vulgar English comedy LP; and positive sufficient, what may need appeared merely crude and offensive on different gamers was rendered a lot funnier (if nonetheless filthy) on the LP12.
But getting an LP12 to carry out to its fullest potential wasn’t a straightforward process. Tuning its comparatively primitive, three-point sprung suspension in order that the platter would bounce easily and uniformly straight up and down with no lateral wiggle required each a magician’s contact and the endurance of a saint; one thing the shop’s proprietor possessed however that I, and many of the employees, by no means fairly mastered.
Of course, this solely anointed the Linn with a good higher aura and desirability.
Soon the LP12’s supremacy could be challenged by the likes of SOTA, Oracle, Pink Triangle, and others, with the unique Goldmund Studio taking the crown for some time—and at $5k the direct-drive Goldmund additionally shattered the period’s value ceiling. (It’s fascinating to notice that that’s roughly $18,000 in at the moment’s cash, which might make that Goldmund a relative bottom-feeder in at the moment’s ultra-high-end world.) But by means of all of it, Linn has stored urgent ahead, ever refining its unique idea, in addition to morphing into the soup-to-nuts audio producer we all know at the moment.
It had been years since I’d heard a brand new Linn, and so I eagerly accepted this evaluation project to meet up with the newest from this traditionally necessary firm’s signature product.
As such, it was one thing of a flashback when Jeremy Bicknell of Basil Audio—who graciously drove to my San Francisco house from his store in Saratoga to ship the unit—unboxed Linn’s newest and most reasonably priced Sondek, the Majik LP12 ($5130 for the bundle as reviewed).
If I hadn’t recognized higher, I may simply have mistaken this LP12 to be a classic Linn, so uncanny a resemblance to the unique the Majik seems to be.
What’s Similar and What’s New?
In some ways the present incarnations of the LP12—there are three tiers: Majik ($5130 as reviewed), Selekt (beginning at $14,560), and Klimax (beginning at $30,970)—are certainly very like the Sondek of previous. But as with the Porsche 911, an analogous look doesn’t imply that expertise hasn’t superior over the following half-century. (Linn additionally supplies nifty improve paths for individuals who begin with the Majik and need to step up over time. Like automakers, the web site even helps you to “construct your personal.”)
But as I recommended, what stays of the legacy is critical, most particularly with the entry-point Majik.
Like the unique, the Majik LP12 options Linn’s traditional picket plinth (presently out there in quite a lot of wooden and end choices), a sandwich-construction aluminum subchassis, a two-piece platter, a black felt mat, a laminated armboard, and a rocker energy swap. As up to now, you even want to suit an adapter to the motor pulley to play 45rpm records. There’s additionally that strikingly acquainted three-point sprung suspension system, which nonetheless calls for the endurance of a saint to tweak, tweak, tweak, in order that it floats freely.
It must be famous, nevertheless, that the precision of those part components is considerably greater than these discovered on a Linn of previous, as the corporate has constantly upgraded its Glasgow manufacturing unit’s manufacturing and machining capabilities.
Along with the standard of components and building, probably the most vital enhancements to the Majik embody Linn’s patented single-point Karousel bearing and the internally mounted low-noise energy provide. (Also good, the Karousel bearing will be fitted to any Sondek ever made.)
But for a few of us, what made dwelling with the unique Sondek a problem remains to be unchanged. That three-point suspension has at all times been extraordinarily delicate to footfall. This is doubly true if, like me, you occur to stay in a home with suspended wooden flooring. For instance, when Jeremy visited to put in the ’desk, make sure the suspension didn’t jiggle like a bowl filled with jelly, and fine-tune the VTA, he would possibly as properly have been strolling on eggshells. So jumpy was the Majik on my Finite Elemente Spider rack that I feared a broken cartridge or worse.
Jeremy was a trooper, gingerly stepping to and from the Majik as he homed in on the specified VTA; however the subsequent day I rejiggered my system in order that the Linn was sitting on a a lot decrease and considerably extra inflexible platform. If this didn’t totally clear up the problem, it went a major manner towards minimizing footfalls as a difficulty. For Linn homeowners, and people considering a purchase order, light-weight and inflexible help items are the important thing to happiness (in addition to avoiding blown woofers).
Krane Tonearm
Those acquainted with the Clearaudio vary of ’arms will acknowledge the Krane ($1790 when bought individually), because it was developed by Clearaudio in partnership with Linn in order that its “efficient size and offset angle…guarantee full congruity with all Linn cartridges and different associated LP12 parts and equipment.”
A static-balanced design, the Krane “is hand assembled with high-quality, precision aluminum and stainless-steel parts. It includes a polished tungsten and sapphire vertical bearing with twin ceramic horizontal bearing meeting, each of that are long-lasting and supply very low friction/rotational mass.”
The Krane additionally features a laser-etched scale for correct and repeatable VTA adjustment and an azimuth adjustment mixed with a hard and fast offset angle to make sure “excellent alignment of the cartridge and stylus.”
Adikt Moving-Magnet Cartridge
I may glean comparatively little details about the Adikt. Linn calls it “an environment friendly and reasonably priced moving-magnet (mm) configuration…a really perfect start line for any high quality vinyl playback system, and its efficiency is greater than a match for a lot of costly moving-coil (mc) designs.”
This, as you’ll learn beneath, is for my part both wishful pondering or promoting hyperbole.
Playback & Wrap
My preliminary listening session with Jeremy the day of set up proved to be troubling. Perhaps sensing my lower than enthusiastic response, he knowledgeable me that Adikt cartridge was model new and could be a lot improved after 30 hours of break in. So, for the following week I didn’t hear however merely stored replaying the perimeters of a clear LP I didn’t thoughts abusing a bit till I’d added up the hours.
Eager to leap again in, and having simply obtained Analogue Productions’ reissue of Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, my listening notes learn: “Bass has some naturalness and zip. Brass some first rate separation. No depth although. The stage is flat and has little sense of air. The famed Linn toe-tap-ability is likewise little in proof. I’m baffled.”
Moving on to Cecile McLoran-Salvant’s otherworldly tackle Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” (from her newest, Ghost Song), I used to be happy by the Majik’s heat and tonal richness, however once more disenchanted by its veiling, lack of air and transparency, rolled off prime and backside frequencies, and easy lack of the verve, drama, and pleasure I’m used to from this document.
Likewise, on the current Giles Martin-mastered version of The Beatles Let it Be, “Two of Us” was so veiled it sounded as if the ’desk have been enjoying behind a curtain, the underside finish lacked snap and definition, guitars have been a muddle, as have been vocals and dynamics.
Granted, my reference analog gear—Basis 2200 Turntable, Vector 4 ’arm, and My Sonic Lab Signature Gold moving-coil cartridge—retails for one thing like six-times the value of the Majik. But returning to play these LPs on that rig confirmed that I wasn’t dropping my thoughts—or listening to. Moreover, I’ve in contrast different much less dear turntables on this similar system—such because the Rega P6, which I deemed worthy of a TAS Product of the Year Award—in opposition to my similar reference LP setup, and I used to be each capable of discern why they have been wonderful, in addition to respect why they might not have performed in the identical league as that Basis configuration.
Although it’s tough to put in writing this, I used to be extremely disenchanted by the sound of the Majik LP12/Krane/Adikt mixture. My hunch is that the Adikt was holding issues again right here, and perhaps it was not merely a hunch, as a result of after I’d completed my listening periods and the Majik was now not in my house, Linn introduced an improve to the Majik within the type of the Koil moving-coil cartridge ($1060, bought alone). Developed in collaboration with Audio Technica, I’m informed it’s based mostly on that firm’s OC9 design, with a number of Linn-specified adjustments made, particularly to the suspension. As Linn says, “This provides prospects a chance to make their first Sondek LP12 improve straight off the bat.”
I remorse not having the chance to check the Adikt and the Koil, as a result of though it’s a reasonable few-hundred-dollar uptick in value, I think it’s far more than that on the efficiency entrance. Perhaps sooner or later both I or one other TAS author could have that likelihood.
Actually, what could be actually cool could be to sit down down at a Linn dealership to make not simply that comparability, however to listen to precisely what stepping up by means of the varied Linn fashions yields in sonic enchancment.
Given my respect for this iconic firm, I urge anybody keen on a Majik to learn my phrases as a snapshot of that ’desk’s sound as I skilled it, and to hunt the sort of listening session I discussed to listen to for himself what Linn’s newest is able to.
Specs & Pricing
Type: Belt-drive, suspended turntable
Speeds: 33.3, 45rpm (adapter included)
Dimensions: 17.5″ x 5.5″ x 14″
Weight: Not out there
Price: $5130 (as reviewed) with Krane tonearm and Adikt mm cartridge
LINN PRODUCTS LTD.
Glasgow Rd.
Waterfoot, Glasgow
G76 0EQ
linn.co.uk
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