Does the world really need another LP12 review? Especially by some shamateur reviewer that tends to gush about mundane stuff? Regardless, here it is:
Having a long history of using turntables and a much shorter history of restoring and fixing and sometimes upgrading them, I've owned and seen and heard a fair number of them. This is my first LP12, something I've lusted after for more than 35 years, but never been able to own one until Chrisc offered up the bargain of the year and I was lucky enough to snap it up. It's pretty much a standard LP12 with an SME series 3 arm and a Shure V15 V cartridge, with Valhalla power supply. The lid has some aftermarket hinges and there is no base board.
After unpacking and assembling I spent a good few days researching and adjusting the SME arm, the suspension and general alignment trying to get everything as perfect as possible. This is not a trivial task, there is a ton of information out there on how to set up an LP12, and not all methods are in agreement.
Luckily for me Mike (Fdlsys) kindly offered to sort out the Valhalla board and advised me not to switch it on until that had been done, so after delivering it to him it was a frustrating couple of days until I got it back. This LP12 has seen plenty of use in its plus minus 33 years of life and has a few scratches and dents and has been worked on before. Aside from sorting out the Valhalla, Mike also adjusted the suspension and the arm, basically redoing everything and getting it set up the way it should be. For anyone tempted to try set up a complex turntable, I would definitely recommend getting Mike or Croak to have it done properly, it?s not easy or simple. Making one adjustment often affects other parts and you can end up going in circles.
She is connected to a Valve Audio Whisper and then to a Cayin A55tp integrated amp with phono stage, playing through Sonor Audio Capella speakers. I use the Cayin in 18 Watt triode mode. At first I listened to it through the onboard phono stage, but for now let?s concentrate on the Whisper as it is currently set up. One other change I made is to fit an Achromat instead of the cork mat it came with. The room is not treated acoustically at all and the set-up is probably far from optimal. Interconnects are home-made jobbies and the speaker wire is basic stuff from Builders, I think 2mm thick. The left and right speakers are wired with different lengths and make of wire, I am not a cable evangelist. My previous references or benchmarks are a lovely Sansui SR-636 Direct Drive, a Sony PS 1800a belt drive with 12 inch arm, Technics SL-1200 and numerous lesser decks.
Enough background waffling, so on to listening to the darn thing. Bottom line: this LP12 is simply in another league to everything I?ve ever owned before and my search for a turntable has now ended, possibly for life. I reckon the SME Series 3 arm with the Shure cartridge seems to be perfectly suited to the table and I am not about to change anything without having a really good reason to. Describing the sound of any hifi or component is (to me) really difficult and probably best left to the professionals, but I?ll give it a go. The words that come to mind are clear, balanced, airy. Wonderful imaging, channel separation, nice horizontal soundstage (on the right record). Possibly a very little bit dry, with clean, tight bass. No sibilance, no harshness up top, wonderful midrange.
I have heard better set-ups, but not many and these usually have been worth much bigger bucks in all departments. My opinion is the LP12 still has lots of potential that could be extracted by fixing the room and upgrading a few small things, for example cables *gasp*. Then there are mods to the plinth and other parts to go even further, but my butt ain?t itching now and hopefully won?t in the next few years.
I?m not ashamed to say that I am now a Linnie. Huge thanks to Mike for getting it properly set up, and to Chris for selling the turntable.
Having a long history of using turntables and a much shorter history of restoring and fixing and sometimes upgrading them, I've owned and seen and heard a fair number of them. This is my first LP12, something I've lusted after for more than 35 years, but never been able to own one until Chrisc offered up the bargain of the year and I was lucky enough to snap it up. It's pretty much a standard LP12 with an SME series 3 arm and a Shure V15 V cartridge, with Valhalla power supply. The lid has some aftermarket hinges and there is no base board.
After unpacking and assembling I spent a good few days researching and adjusting the SME arm, the suspension and general alignment trying to get everything as perfect as possible. This is not a trivial task, there is a ton of information out there on how to set up an LP12, and not all methods are in agreement.
Luckily for me Mike (Fdlsys) kindly offered to sort out the Valhalla board and advised me not to switch it on until that had been done, so after delivering it to him it was a frustrating couple of days until I got it back. This LP12 has seen plenty of use in its plus minus 33 years of life and has a few scratches and dents and has been worked on before. Aside from sorting out the Valhalla, Mike also adjusted the suspension and the arm, basically redoing everything and getting it set up the way it should be. For anyone tempted to try set up a complex turntable, I would definitely recommend getting Mike or Croak to have it done properly, it?s not easy or simple. Making one adjustment often affects other parts and you can end up going in circles.
She is connected to a Valve Audio Whisper and then to a Cayin A55tp integrated amp with phono stage, playing through Sonor Audio Capella speakers. I use the Cayin in 18 Watt triode mode. At first I listened to it through the onboard phono stage, but for now let?s concentrate on the Whisper as it is currently set up. One other change I made is to fit an Achromat instead of the cork mat it came with. The room is not treated acoustically at all and the set-up is probably far from optimal. Interconnects are home-made jobbies and the speaker wire is basic stuff from Builders, I think 2mm thick. The left and right speakers are wired with different lengths and make of wire, I am not a cable evangelist. My previous references or benchmarks are a lovely Sansui SR-636 Direct Drive, a Sony PS 1800a belt drive with 12 inch arm, Technics SL-1200 and numerous lesser decks.
Enough background waffling, so on to listening to the darn thing. Bottom line: this LP12 is simply in another league to everything I?ve ever owned before and my search for a turntable has now ended, possibly for life. I reckon the SME Series 3 arm with the Shure cartridge seems to be perfectly suited to the table and I am not about to change anything without having a really good reason to. Describing the sound of any hifi or component is (to me) really difficult and probably best left to the professionals, but I?ll give it a go. The words that come to mind are clear, balanced, airy. Wonderful imaging, channel separation, nice horizontal soundstage (on the right record). Possibly a very little bit dry, with clean, tight bass. No sibilance, no harshness up top, wonderful midrange.
I have heard better set-ups, but not many and these usually have been worth much bigger bucks in all departments. My opinion is the LP12 still has lots of potential that could be extracted by fixing the room and upgrading a few small things, for example cables *gasp*. Then there are mods to the plinth and other parts to go even further, but my butt ain?t itching now and hopefully won?t in the next few years.
I?m not ashamed to say that I am now a Linnie. Huge thanks to Mike for getting it properly set up, and to Chris for selling the turntable.
