Κώστας Φ.
Truth hurts. Here's a teddy bear.
- Μηνύματα
- 8.978
- Reaction score
- 895
"Visit www.stereophile.com and look at the Vote Results for June 17, 2007: You'll see that when we asked our readers to name the one audio product that's spent the greatest amount of time in their systems, the most common answer by far was the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable (footnote 1). Little wonder that Scotland's most famous record player endures as an object of attention for various and sundry commercial tweaks.
Most such tweaks have come from outside of Glasgow: support platforms from the Sound Organisation and Mana Acoustics, power supplies from Naim Audio and Pink Triangle, diverse accessories from Origin Live, and tonearms from Naim, GB Tools, Alphason, Syrinx, and scores of others. But every now and then someone in the Linn organization itself comes up with a retrofit that passes muster and lives to see the light of commerce. So it has gone with Linn's new Keel subchassis ($3250), Ekos SE (for Super Evolution) tonearm ($4950), and Trampolin turntable base ($250).
...
Conclusions
A new LP12 turntable retails for $2810, and a new Lingo power supply adds $1810 to that price. Putting those facts together with the information in this review, we know one thing for sure: Linn's super evolution record player would have sold for more than $13,000, minus a phono cartridge. Probably a lot more.
Analog replay gear has done well in recent years, but sales are still down from the era when the Linn LP12 and its more famous retrofits were developed—meaning that all future upgrades will appeal to an increasingly smaller audience, and must be priced accordingly. At the same time, the effort to wring more and more performance from an existing platform requires greater and greater investments in tooling and R&D, which will also tend to keep the audience small and prices high. A vicious cycle. Consequently, these newest Linn products aren't cheap, and unless you're one of the lucky few who can write an $8450 check just like that, some prioritizing is in order:
The Ekos SE is a seriously good product, and may indeed be "the best" tonearm for use on a Linn turntable. But if I had an LP12 with a standard Linn Ekos or even Linn Ittok tonearm, I believe I'd upgrade to the Keel before changing anything else. That strikes me as the more essential change—one that, as noted above, succeeds at maintaining the player's character.
I remember a time when the Linn Sondek LP12 was just about the most expensive perfectionist turntable you could buy. Those days are long gone—and because of or despite that, I've persisted in regarding the LP12 not as a budget choice, but as among the top two or three choices for anyone who values that perspective on recorded music. Which is to say: To the person who values tunefulness, timing, the rich textures of real voices and instruments, and the kind of involvement with music that mixes intellect and emotion in more or less equal parts, the Linn has been at or close to the top of the pile, said pile comprising some products that sell for much, much more. The Keel fits in with that view of the Linn; to the person who understands what the player is all about, this very expensive upgrade could border on being essential. It's like buying a huge piece of land and being given the opportunity to add another 50-year-old tree to the mountainside: crazy, exorbitant—and something no man would pass up if he could afford it."
Περισσότερα: Stereophile.com
