Gromit's music centre...

[Marco]

I'll look forward to reading your thoughts, Richard

Marco.

[Marco]

Hey Richard, how are you getting on with the old 'fruit box'? Are you selling your 1210, then?

Marco.

[Gromit]

Hey Richard, how are you getting on with the old 'fruit box'? Are you selling your 1210, then?

Marco.

Ye Olde Fruite Boxe is sounding very good indeed - I tried to fit the 103 into the Akito yesterday but it's too wide for the headhsell. Trouble is I don't like the MC15 in the PL71 - it's a bit too bright & breezy (although admittedly a very fast and entertaining old thing) to be honest. Not had much chance to do a proper lengthy comparison yet but hopefully will get a chance this week some time.

The Beresford's working well though and doing the business very nicely...

[Marco]

I tried to fit the 103 into the Akito yesterday but it's too wide for the headhsell

It'll go in with some 'gentle persuasion' - I've done it before, but we're talking a less than ideal installation with the cartridge wires all squashed up to buggery!

I wouldn't bother though because the DL-103 will not work properly on an Akito - a) it doesn't have enough mass either in the armtube or the headshell (and adding weight to the headshell with coins, Blu-Tac, or whatever, only works to an extent but is by no means a panacea) and b) there is an upper-mid resonance peak on Linn arms (the Akito is no exception) which exacerbates the 103's already prominent midrange emphasis and slight graininess, making for a rather 'brightly-lit', in-your-face, presentation which is fatiguing in the extreme.

Of course the extent of this effect will vary from system to system but rest assured you're not missing much! The 103 is a far better match for the arm and headshell on your Pioneer, where it should perform extremely well.

I noticed that you mentioned over on pfm about the speed stability issues and 'wavering' on the likes of solo piano I hear all too easily with the LP12 and other similar low-mass belt-drive T/Ts, and which now my ears are attuned to the effect, I find extremely irritating. From my point of view, this alone would be sufficient reason never again to go down the low-mass BD route, regardless of any other 'charm' LP12s and such like may possess.

Marco.

[DSJR]

Akito? YUCH!!!!!!!

Sincere apologies folks...

Hey Gromit, when you have spare funds, why not try the Jelco like the one Marco is using. I reckon it would fit a Linn arm hole unless it's Rega length of course.. I still think the 103 bass weight would upset the LP12 though. An At33PTG would be much better as long as you have a decent external play-weight gauge...

[Gromit]

Hi Dave - the LP12's not mine so I can't really go around fitting new arms to it unfortunately.

Still, as it stands it does give me a good idea about where it stands sonically vs the PL71 - the fundamental character of the turntable still comes through. In fact I've spent a couple of hours this morning flitting between the two of them. I should (try to!) qualify my findings a bit first...

The LP12 was serviced approx 18 months ago by a Linn dealer (who gave it a 100% clean bill of health) and has had light use throughout its life. That's to ward off the 'well it didn't sound as good as it should because it needs a service' crew

The Akito, love it or hate it (I don't mind it but appreciate there's better) is an arm designed to be used on the Sondek so should work. Both TT's are used on my Audiotech table.

So far...I've been putting the MC15 into the PL71 to keep the playing field as level as possible. I don't like it in the Pioneer but felt it only fair to do so for reasons of comparison-making...

The Linn vs the Pioneer: The PL71 is slightly softer but actually hits a good deal harder than the LP12, it's also more extended with less glare at the top end. It sounds hugely wider in soundstage terms aswell and drags more detail out of the grooves at the extremes of left & right. The PL71's bass is in another league - it's faster, gutsier, more focussed, with more fundamental pitch coherence and less bloom.

Downsides to the Pioneer are that it's possibly less clear through the midrange, slightly mushy perhaps, where the Linn has more cut to its sound. To counter this the PL71 has much better decay and resonance behaviour, especially on sustained piano chords which ring on for longer and with more definite feeling of space.

The biggest surprise (and this is where I thought the Linn would win out) is that the Pioneer simply has more groove, being funkier and more 'on it'. Listening to some Bob Florence Big Band lp's this morning the Linn didn't seem to want to play ball, comparatively, where the Pioneer just lets rip with the full force of a great big band in full flow. Put the 103 back in to the Pioneer and the gap just widens further. The Linn also didn't encourage me to turn the wick up as it tends to 'shout' when the going gets heavy - the Pioneer seems to deal with musical climaxes (and heavily scored music) without getting flustered and just seems to have more headroom.

So there you have it....in my opinion of course.

[Peter Stockwell]

The biggest surprise (and this is where I thought the Linn would win out) is that the Pioneer simply has more groove, being funkier and more 'on it'. .... The Linn also didn't encourage me to turn the wick up as it tends to 'shout' when the going gets heavy - the Pioneer seems to deal with musical climaxes (and heavily scored music) without getting flustered and just seems to have more headroom.

I think you have the Direct Drive/ Rubber Drive thing in a nutshell.

[i_should_coco]

Yup, ironic that the DD beats the Linn at it's own game...despite what the marketing would have you believe.

[Gromit]

Yup, ironic that the DD beats the Linn at it's own game...despite what the marketing would have you believe.

Absolutely Pete - if only we could have conducted some blind test between the LP12 and something akin to the PL71 back in the early 80's.

Forgot to mention the music I used during this little bake-off...

Al Jarreau - High Crime. Hefty bass synth which can easily catch out a poor turntable. Some superb vocal scat by AJ balanced by a couple of great ballads - 'After All' is particularly gorgeous. On the LP12 it was all very much in place but on the Pioneer it was a real event and something to savour.

Ravel/Perlemuter - Record One (of 3) of the Nimbus recordings. 'Le Gibet' is the killer here with much piano sustain recorded in a distant-mic'd natural acoustic. Such a shame they don't make records like this any more.

Eurhythmics - 'Conditioned Soul' from the Be Yourself Tonight album.

Grace Jones - 'Walking in the Rain' and 'Pull up to the bumper' from Nightclubbing.

[Marco]

The biggest surprise (and this is where I thought the Linn would win out) is that the Pioneer simply has more groove, being funkier and more 'on it'. Listening to some Bob Florence Big Band lp's this morning the Linn didn't seem to want to play ball, comparatively, where the Pioneer just lets rip with the full force of a great big band in full flow. Put the 103 back in to the Pioneer and the gap just widens further. The Linn also didn't encourage me to turn the wick up as it tends to 'shout' when the going gets heavy - the Pioneer seems to deal with musical climaxes (and heavily scored music) without getting flustered and just seems to have more headroom.

Hi Richard,

I concur fully with your observations; they match mine anytime I compare a low-mass BD deck like the LP12 to my modified 1210.

Hey, at least you *know* for sure now that your decision to abandon BDs and go direct-drive with the PL-71 was the right one. I salute your thoroughness, sir!

Marco.