The Linn's good reputation is probably deserved (if not for being great value). Not my cup of tea, but I can understand people wanting one.
Printable View
Mine was an early 80s, Valhalla but pre-circus job with an Ittok on it and for most of its 20-odd years with me, an AT OC9. I though it was the dog's bollocks at the time. I got it with my first credit card not long after getting my first job, in about 1982. I seem to recall it was about £400. About the same as the four or five year old VW Golf I was running at the time.
Not anything like as VFM as a properly set up s/h TD124, which for well under £100 back then could probably have shown it a clean pair of heels. But what did I know then? At that time I read the magazines and bouncy tables were where it was at.
Fast forward from 1982 to 2013 and my new LP12 with upgrades all over it ,is a very good deck indeed and is a much better deck now than 1982, well it pleases me anyway and looks very nice.
VFM.. blimey, not at all in comparison to other TTs. If I add it all up it cost a lot! But all things relatively speaking,
I've certainly had enough value out of it as it hasn't stopped Spinning my collection and has done since day one.
And I suppose that's the litmus test.
I believe a fully fitted, upgraded, "breathed upon" and blessed by Ivor, Linn LP12 costs several grand to buy these days.
I lived with a standard LP12 for about a year in the early '80, whilst its owner was working abroad, so was able to compare it with my Thorens TD124/II (ten yeas old and cost me £38). There was absolutely nothing about the Linn which caused me to think about replacing the Thorens.
I own a PIONEER PL-570X ( Black ) super machine :)
It'd be a damn sight nicer without that horrible label plastered onto the left-hand side, spoiling the lovely wood veneer... Whoever's idea that was should be shot, for being guilty of aesthetics indecency! :mental:
Sonically, I reckon it'd be comparable with the likes of a Pioneer PL-71, and therefore more than decent, although the auto shut-off mechanism may spoil the party slightly.
Marco.
Very similar in looks to my Pioneer PL-550. I notice that the platter doesn't seem as substantial and the arm looks a tad feeble maybe.
Very cool looking although that decal does indeed spoil it.
I think VFM is a personal thing.
One man buys a turntable for cheap, to have it sat unloved and unused in a corner of the room.
Another man spends a fortune on his deck, and spends even more money and time tinkering with it, and in return the turntable gives him joy every day.
Which one had the real VFM?