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New Linn Sondek Owner!!

marantzfan

marantzfan

...
After years of hearing about the legendary Linn Sondek, tonight I have finally landed one in my house!

I noticed the Linn hidden in a craigslist ad for a pair of Polk bookshelf speakers. Even though the ad was a day old I called last night but was told that I was second in line and would have to wait untill Wednesday to see if the first buyer was going to make good on his promise.

Well, I starting preparing myself today for the inevitability that I was not going to get this table. Once I had accepted it, my office phone rang and it was the seller telling me that buyer one had opted out and the table was mine if I wanted it.

I left the office 15 minutes later. :D

So, here she is, a serial number from 1977-78 but according to the owner (who was VERY nice and had some KILLER Jadis tube equipment) this table hasn't been used in 15 years and before that it had only been use occassionally. The arm is made by Sumiko and the cart is a little Sumiko Oyster.

Well, I beleive him because the table looks almost brand new! I cleaned it up a little and rubbed some restore a finish on the frame and this thing is dropdead georgous!

So, now starts the journey, fellow Sondek owners...How do I procceed?
 

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Now you need some vinyl to go with that, Anthony! :D

But if that is too much for you I will take the Linn off of you for $20.
 
Congratulations!
Great turntable -- you lucked out, it looks beautiful. I hope it sounds even nicer than it looks.

That is probably a Sumiko MMT tonearm. They've got some infor about it at Vinyl Engine.
 
Congratulation. Whether you like it or not now you can say 'Been there Done that' with confidence. Someone's jealous here! :D
 
Now you get a cartridge worthy of that legendary turntable. That's the first thing I would do. The Oysters not bad for a $55 cart, but.............

Anyhow, she is a beauty. Congrats, Dude.

Dave
 
marantzfan said:
One other bit of info. Apparently this table has had the Valhalla power supply added at some point in its history.
Click to expand...

Sounds right to me. The Valhalla upgrade came onto the market in the early 80´s, and that On / Off soft touch knob came with it.
 
Not to pick nits here, but looks to me like that cartridge is a Pearl rather than an Oyster (Sumiko's clever, huh?). :D Still, I agree with the above comment that it deserves the best cart you can put on it.

Congrats!
 
Congratulations on your acquisition! As you have stated, your journey begins with a nice deck that looks stunning. My advice is to be patient and proceed slowly.

The first thing I'd do would be to download the Linn set-up procedures from the Vinyl Engine. I would then change the oil for the main bearing (use Linn oil, it may be different from their Cirkus bearing oil).

Then I would look into changing the belt (genuine from a Linn dealer at about 25-30$).

If you can afford a tune-up from a reputable Linn dealer (rare are those that can make this deck sing) or learn to do it yourself as there are sites devoted to this table that can share some knowledge such as the Naim or Linn forums.

Since you have the Valhalla power supply, you must also have the Nirvana kit installed too (better springs..). Once the deck is tuned it should last for years before you need another tune-up. Tuning the suspension is a labor of patience (1/8 to 1/4 turns of the springs) in a methodical (left, front and rear spring) rotation until you nail it. This can be time consuming (from a few minutes if you're lucky to a few hours if you're a newbie).

I wouldn't change the arm or cartridge on the deck until I get the table tuned correctly. I would look into the best rack I could install it on though. Linn suggests light and rigid bases for their table and I agree with them.
 
dogscanskate said:
Congratulations on your acquisition! As you have stated, your journey begins with a nice deck that looks stunning. My advice is to be patient and proceed slowly.

The first thing I'd do would be to download the Linn set-up procedures from the Vinyl Engine. I would then change the oil for the main bearing (use Linn oil, it may be different from their Cirkus bearing oil).

Then I would look into changing the belt (genuine from a Linn dealer at about 25-30$).

If you can afford a tune-up from a reputable Linn dealer (rare are those that can make this deck sing) or learn to do it yourself as there are sites devoted to this table that can share some knowledge such as the Naim or Linn forums.

Since you have the Valhalla power supply, you must also have the Nirvana kit installed too (better springs..). Once the deck is tuned it should last for years before you need another tune-up. Tuning the suspension is a labor of patience (1/8 to 1/4 turns of the springs) in a methodical (left, front and rear spring) rotation until you nail it. This can be time consuming (from a few minutes if you're lucky to a few hours if you're a newbie).

I wouldn't change the arm or cartridge on the deck until I get the table tuned correctly. I would look into the best rack I could install it on though. Linn suggests light and rigid bases for their table and I agree with them.
Click to expand...

A fellow AK member told me that I would need to buy new springs. Is that always the case or will it most likely just require the adjustment to the suspension that you described?

BTW, thanks a ton for all your help. :thmbsp:
 
Oh, another thing I need to address (at least from my perspective) is the power cord. Its the old school brown lamp cord we all know and love. Any advice on what would make a suitable replacement?
 
marantzfan said:
Oh, another thing I need to address (at least from my perspective) is the power cord. Its the old school brown lamp cord we all know and love. Any advice on what would make a suitable replacement?
Click to expand...

What I would do before changing springs is simply switch the spring on the left side of the table with the rear one as there is less mass on the deck's left side. See how this works out and then decide if you really need new springs. See if that works. (Left side is when you face the deck or the spring closest to the motor assembly)

When I had the Valhalla, I kept the old brown cord and never gave it a second thought. If I were to change it, I'd get a Naim power cord (they are cheap at less than 20$ and these guys listen to their cables and it will sound good on the Linn) and chop off the ground wire. It's a very easy installation on the supplied board and almost idiot proof. As a matter of fact, most of my gear is cabled with Naim power cords. Simaudio uses the same cord if you can't track down a Naim dealer in your area. They are not expensive and work well with Linn gear. Basically, Naim designed electronics around the LP-12.

Make sure you have the P-clip installed on the tonearm cable too (installed correctly) as it can affect the bounce. Do this before actually tuning the springs (or make sure it is well secured and the cable doesn't rub against the subchassis parts). Dressing the tonearm cable from the base to the P-clip is of paramount importance in reaching a nice vertical bounce unimpeded by wobbling or swaying of the platter.
 
Welcome. You've gotten some good advice. For the price of the new springs, I just went for it rather than messing with the old ones. Tuning it wasn't as hard as it's made out to be. I used two stacks of books. Some guys use tall boys. Whatever works, as long as it's level and offers access to the underside. I'd get a known cartridge on it and baseline everything, then start tweaking until you're happy (or until you run out of money).

What did you pay for it?
 
jgordon said:
Welcome. You've gotten some good advice. For the price of the new springs, I just went for it rather than messing with the old ones. Tuning it wasn't as hard as it's made out to be. I used two stacks of books. Some guys use tall boys. Whatever works, as long as it's level and offers access to the underside. I'd get a known cartridge on it and baseline everything, then start tweaking until you're happy (or until you run out of money).

What did you pay for it?
Click to expand...

I paid $500, which from what I can tell is pretty reasonable.
 
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