Save 30% on LP12 upgrades this summer
One of the many reasons that the Linn LP12 has been so successful over the past 51 years is that it can be upgraded over time as technology and your budget allows. This summer, Linn is making it easier to improve your LP12 by offering 30% discount on any upgrade when you buy any full price LP12 component.
For example, if you have a Majik LP12 you can upgrade to the Lingo 4 power supply, and receive 30% off a Kore subchassis, or if you have an older Klimax turntable you can get the machined Radikal 2 and save 30% on the Ekstatik cartridge.
What should I upgrade?
The sheer number of upgrades and changes over the years mean that it can be difficult to decide what the most cost effective upgrade will be. Whilst there is no substitute for a chat with your friendly Linn dealer, we hope that the sequence below will be a good starting point.
The bearing: Quality vinyl replay starts with extracting the maximum amount of music from the record, whilst minimising the amount of noise added to the signal. A turntable that turns smoothly and quietly will enable the arm and stylus to do the best possible job of extracting the music from the grooves. Introduced in 2020, the Karousel is the latest incarnation of Linn’s patented single point bearing - the heart of the LP12 and the reason it stands apart from the competition.
Power supply: Pitch perfect music reproduction needs a pitch perfect motor. If your turntable has a mechanical switch that clicks between the on and off positions then you will have a Basik or Majik power supply. Upgrading this will be the most significant upgrade you can make, apart from the bearing. Not only will you have a quieter, more stable motor, but you will also be able to play 45rpm records without resorting to the adaptor pulley.
Subchassis: To minimise the impact of airborne vibrations it is important that the arm and turntable move as one unit, and this is down to the quality of the subchassis. The traditional LP12 subchassis, an improved version of which is still used in the Majik LP12, consists of a laminated armboard screwed on to a pressed aluminium subchassis. The Kore armboard is machined from aluminium and bonded to the subchassism with an arm collar bolted directly to the subchassis. The Keel is a perfectly balanced subchassis, armboard and collar machined from a single billet of aluminium, which ensures the highest possible level of performance.
Tonearm: A high quality tonearm will control the cartridge more effectively, minimising unwanted vibration and ensuring that the stylus retrieves the maximum amount of music from the groove. The Arko is a great upgrade from many earlier arms, or for ultimate performance you can go for the Ekos SE/1.
Cartridge: The Adikt moving magnet cartridge is a great replacement for older cartridges, or there are five moving coil cartridges to choose from: Koil, Krystal, Kendo, Kandid and Ekstatik.
Phono stage: Once you are sure you’ve got the best possible signal coming from your LP12, you could consider a phono stage upgrade. The Uphorik standalone phono stage is easily configurable to work well with almost any cartridge on the market, or you could go for the Urika dual mono design, which fits inside the LP12 to minimise the signal path that the low level signal from the cartridge has to take. If you have Exakt ports on your system then Urika II will convert the signal to a lossless Exakt format to ensure that you hear even more of the music.