Boy, this sure is a quiet forum. I guess it's because most Linn owners are too busy listening!:banana::music:

Anyway, I had a chance to audition a fully loaded LP-12 against the newer Keel/Ekos SE version this weekend at a local dealer. FWIW, I own two LP-12's myself, a Valhalla/Ittok LVII/Shure V15xMR and a Lingo/Ekos/Lingo/Akiva/Linto for purposes of reference.

My take on the newer version is that the difference is not subtle, it's definitely an order of magnitude better in terms of music and ambience retrieval. If I had to use two words to describe it, I would probably say "improved resolution", even if this may have a negative connotation to some folks.

It just does what an LP-12 has always done, only better, to my ears.

Anyone else had a chance to listen to both side by side?

Linn owners are busy brining the sheep down from the high pastures for winter.

Saw a new one, but have not heard one yet. Gonna try to make it happen soon. While the idea of a turntable that costs as much as a mid-size car boggles the mind, if I had the kind of bucks that would make such a purchase painless, I could see myself doing it.... :)

Saw a new one, but have not heard one yet. Gonna try to make it happen soon. While the idea of a turntable that costs as much as a mid-size car boggles the mind, if I had the kind of bucks that would make such a purchase painless, I could see myself doing it.... :)

Yeah, I hear you. Of course, one of the nice things about the LP-12 (and a few others, I'm sure) is that you can buy a bare bones machine and upgrade it slowly with less immediate pain to the wallet. :thmbsp:

I hope you share with us your experience when you get a chance to compare.

I was at the local dealer for Linn's kickoff to the Keel, SE, etc with some of my finer records at hand and expecting to be impressed. I found it to be only modestly impressive. Pound for (sterling) pound it was in my humble opinion, a huge let down. I listened... the Linn rep's brought only one table, fully loaded and it was impossible to understand what the sub-chassis vs. the tone arm brought to the... table. (pun intended) Combined they seemed moderately faster, with a greater solidity than previously with a lack of the mid bass bump that has lingered for years.

To be fair, I have sung their praises since the purchase of my trusted Sondek in 1982. My, how the times, they are a changing. In those early
years nothing I heard came close and I would like nothing better than to continue to build on what has brought so much musical satisfaction.

Here is were I no longer am drinking the kool-aid though. I can't speak for any one but myself yet, are you kidding me?!!! 3250usd for a CNC'ed chunk of billet, the Keel, 4950usd for the Ekos SE, a refreshed arm with (still) no VTA on the fly and now what, a DC motor and motor drive the Radikal at what? about another 4500usd? And finally the Urika another 4k or so for a phono stage? Hewwww.

Where do I begin... Didn't Linn poo-poo DC drives for years, I guess Origin Live and the rest of them were on to something for the last decade or so. The Keel, obviously driven by the advancements in speed, impact, and weight delivered by the rigid/mass loaded contingent and which, locks you into a current Linn arm, and the Ittok/Ekos/SE, nice piece but, hardly anything revolutionary. What I would find impressive is if Linn had gotten rid of the need for that damn P-clip, leave the owner free to use whatever arm and IC they choose. If yours is the best choice Linn, we will buy it.

As an industrial designer I clearly understand the benefits of integration and controlling all the tolerance and resonance in the assembly. I really do believe Ivor and the rest deserve to eat well but at these prices few will be persuaded to follow IMHO and this kind of grand total will buy one a vast ticket to vinyl nirvana without the need for a Linn dealer tune up your rig or any of the other limiting caveats. Don't you think, instead of allowing current (and future) Lp12 owners the opportunity to keep many of these classic and landmark turntables up to state of the art, it appears that only the deepest pocketed disciples will follow and the rest of the decks...?

I have found another path... Happy (analogue) Listening! :beatnik:

Has anyone listened to an LP12 with the cetech upgrade? Since I'm not rich I decided to go the non Linn upgrade path. I've installed an Origin Live DC motor kit and it seems to be good value for the money (about $500). One of these days I'd like to get an OL tonearm.