Well, never thought I would do this. But have just bought another LP12.  I owned one from mid 90s until 2010, when I sold it after retiring and moving to a smaller home.  I sold a lot of things I now wish I hadn’t!  Succumbed to the need to get back into vinyl and ended up with a really nice Yamaha YP-D9. DD turntable, but still had some nostalgia for the airy sound I enjoyed from my old LP12.
this one came up on TM last week, a very lightly used, unmolested,  two owner model from circa 1983 with Valhalla power supply, and fitted with Ittok LVIi arm.
i have yet to pick it up as the auction only closed today.  Well, I suppose you could call it an auction as I was the only bidder despite 62 watchers!  Seems TM is now a spectator sport.  Unusually there were five LP 12s listed on TM this past week- now only four.
the seller has fitted a brand new Denon DL-103r cart for purposes of sale.  I won’t need that as have just bought an Ortofon 2M Black, so will be putting the 103r up for sale.
be a PITA to fit a new cart, as I believe the arm has to be removed first to avoid damaging the bearings.
looking forward to getting it home sometime next week.

that was a myth perpetuated by linn dealers.
any arm can be damaged during cartridge fitting if the fitter is hamfisted.

just be careful

the 103r was a nice bonus.
what did you pay for this example ?

$2K, prepared to pay that as I knew I could get some of that back from selling the 103r. Compares reasonably well, allowing for inflation, to the $1300 I sold my old one for 9 years ago - which was a slightly earlier non Valhalla model.

Congratulations sir. A well worth while investment IMO, as its rare to see an unmolested and unmodified one now. I haven't heard one for a while but have fond memories of their musical abilities.

sharp price.

look forward to hours of fun tinkering with the suspension, getting the armboard square in the cutout, the suspension bounce just right etc.

Michael, is that nice speak for a PITA set up for a turntable?

sub I could always do with yet another 103R. pm me with your sharp price!

Not only in original very tidy condition, but seller also has the original box, packing and manuals! Fairly rare to find these days.
Picking up on Monday.

MW has a better memory than I obviously, i'd forgotten about the armboard part: often I would get everything else looking pretty god only to surface and find the armboard well out of square. All adjusted from underneath too, got a jig Sub ?

i was a frequent borrower of manawatu tv and sound's linn jig.

easier enough to diy one.
screw some sturdy L brackets to 2 suitable pieces of mdf then attach to linn using the baseboard screw holes.
it will look awful but will raise the linn to a height where you can work on it.

I’m handy with diy, so will make something up. Totally Wired had a jig for sale, but just checked and it must have been sold. Actually, if I hadn’t won this LP12, I may have been tempted by an offer on Totally Wired specials page. John is selling his personal Well Tempered Amadeus GT, seems reasonably priced at $2.5K.
Have been busy refreshing my memory of all the setting up advice on the various forums out there!

Or.... place 2 low/stiff/rigid tables (all Linn owners should have some) close together, support LP12 between & lie on floor between, working upwards

(I didn't encounter much trouble with LP12 suspensions, nor armboard (once I swapped the early armboard with a dble-laminated one).

What serial no. is this one sub?

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Jun 16, 2018 19:24:17 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

What serial no. is this one sub ?

Screen shot here showing s/n
Which seems to indicate circa 1983, but without s/n of arm not able to be sure whether early or a revised Ittok.

www.vinylengine.com/linn-lp12-history-and-upgrade-path.shtml

1982 38800 Valhalla power supply, electronic speed control with a sophisticated crystal controlled power supply. Isolates the rotation of the turntable motor from variations in the electrical supply.

I've not owned an LP12 but heard quite a few over the years.

My only comment is that the Well Tempered Amadeus is a damn fine turntable, easily set up and sounds fantastic. And for $2500 is a bargain.

from the linn lp12 faq

www.hoth.uk/LP12-FAQ.htm

ttok LVII, LVIII & LVIII/2

Description: Top of the range arm. Later superseded by the Ekos.
Date of introduction : 1979
Effective mass: 11.5 g
Suitable cartridge weights: 3 - 9g
Pivot to stylus length: 229mm
Overhang: 18mm
Features: Controls for tracking weight and anti skate. VTA adjustable by unclamping arm pillar via grub screw.
Price: Silver LVIII 483 GBP (1990), 560 GBP (1992), Black had a 15% premium

The Ittok came first as LVII, later replaced by LVIII and finally (for a short period) as LVIII/2 with Ekos-type arm-rest (no hole in the arm board needed).

The Ittok LVII has a mark 1 and mark 2 series but this are not official Linn designations.
The mark 1 has a two piece counter weight, a smaller diameter pillar, and a 5 mm set screw in the arm collar to name a few features which make it easy to distinguish from a later mark 2.
Also the Ittok with the 20mm pillar would be considered a mark 1 and the 25 mm pillar a mark 2.
All Ittok's after S/N 3000 have 25mm pillar, i.e. mark 2 (unofficially).
Arms with S/N after 31300 are Ittok LVIII.

"The final version was as good as the early Ekos arms!"

The LVII also existed in black. They were more expensive as new and are very rare. Only 1000 were made. There were also a few black LVIIIs.insert quote here

Agreed, circa '82-83.

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Picked up yesterday, yes, circa late 82/83, and fitted with the twin counterweights, so a Mk1 arm.
This morning checked over the set up of arm/103r cart on the Linn with my protractor, then did a 1 on 1 comparison with my 103r fitted to the Yamaha DD.
Not a lot in it, both satisfyingly musical, clean and accurate, but the Linn won by providing more air and delicacy, with the space between notes just a tad cleaner and blacker.
So the Linn is a keeper.
Then removed the 103r from the Linn tone arm. To start I left the arm attached, but as the bolts had been inserted upside down I was unable te access the slotted screw ends, which was an issue as unscrewing the nuts simply led to everything going round and round!
Removed the arm following instructions (mint manual provided by seller, but plenty of info on line) and found the process quite simple.
Finally got my brand new Ortofon 2M Black mounted and reassembled the arm, followed by setting out with my protractor - not simple owing to the sloping front edges of the cart.
I will miss the easy VTA adjustment of the Yamaha, as VTA is set by eye on the Linn. Linn recommend setting up the arm to be parallel with the record when playing, but Ortofon recommend a positive lift so the arm is a little higher at the back, so have settled on that.
Have played two sides so far, not yet revealing the inner detail of the demo model, but being brand new I expect things to open up a bit more as the cart settles in. Even so it is making lovely music. Will have another look at VTA set up once the cart is broken in.

Ah I see the Valhalla switch (not the early 'big red switch').

Clever trick that LP12 manages - clean & black at the same time!

When you get a chance, check the underside - is the armboard unpainted MDF underneath?

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Always preferred the lighter ribbed wood like your one. Happy days indeed

Jun 19, 2018 16:10:55 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

When you get a chance, check the underside - is the armboard unpainted MDF underneath?

Yes, it is an early arm board, MDF or fibre board, unpainted underneath.  Sitting level and square.
According to the Linn forum, the laminated board arrived circa 1987.

This LP12 has seen little use.  The seller is 2nd owner since late 90s and unused since 2000, when he sold his CAT pre amp fitted with a phono stage (he didn’t like the sound with some new tubes/valves he just installed in the CAT), and never got around to getting another phono stage - probably because he only owned 29 LPs,  he said!  Yes, I asked, but he had given his LPs to a friend!

It was fitted with an Asaka cart when he bought it, since onsold.  He bought the 103R to ensure things were still working before listing for sale, so is virtually new.  He bought it from 2juki, a well known eBay seller ( from whom he also bought his impressive Esoteric CD player, pre and power amps.)

landed cost of the 103r just over $500, so he effectively sold the LP12 for $1500.  Must get around to ascertaining a fair price for the 103r and listing it. 

Used carts with low mileage usually sell for about 50 to 60% of retail.
Just the facts of being secondhand.

I'd be interested at around that price, but would like to know what the spec sheet says, ie output level, and per each channel how closely matched.
PM if interested.

Jun 19, 2018 17:19:59 GMT 12 sub said:

Yes, it is an early arm board, MDF or fibre board, unpainted underneath.  Sitting level and square.
According to the Linn forum, the laminated board arrived circa 1987.

Ah yes, '87 for introduction of the newer 'laminated' armboard. Actually, the orig armboards were 'laminated' material (10mm MDF-faced ply?), but Linn somehow released this item unpainted underneath (cost saving maybe) - and as any joiner or cabinetmaker would tell you, one-side painted material (esp highly hygroscopic like wood), will be subject to temperature & moisture changes. Later, Linn issued an armboard that was melamine (as I recall)-faced both sides.

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Does it have the grey tinted acrylic lid with acrylic prop on RHS?

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linn's claim of precision engineering on the lp12 was really a load of rocking horse poo.
they were just as suspect to the vagaries of small scale production as any small tt maker.

there were good ones, bad ones and ones in the middle.
you'll know when you have a good one

easy to setup once you know what you are trying to achieve and a good one stays setup.
easier in fact than the early wt amadeus with the wacky three independent towers.

sub's one looks good, even the mat appears to be in good condition.

Jun 19, 2018 18:09:11 GMT 12 Owen Y said:

Does it have the grey tinted acrylic lid with acrylic prop on RHS?

No, has a “smoked”, darkish brown,  opaque lid.  There is a groove on the RHS presumably for a prop, but prop not needed with this lid, which has spring loaded hinges.  Don’t know if that means this is a replacement lid, or if they have used a plinth originally designed for props.  Haven’t searched for info on that yet.  My previous LP12, circa 1981, did not have a propped lid and while it was a similar looking plinth, did not have groove for a prop.

Have to agree with Michael - once I had my old LP12 set up, it stayed set up.

i understand some LP12s were assembled in nz with locally made plinths.  Anyone know when that was?

my memory is fuzzy on the exact dates but i think they were locally assembled by the original avalon audio (who also assembled naim, A&R cambridge a60, rega planer 3) from the late 1970s through to early maybe mid-1980s ?

i bought my nz one sometime in 1982.
it was an original big power button model with grace g707 arm, dealer upgraded with nirvana black springs and valhalla power board.
the plinth had the notch and it had a clumsily made grey lid with prop.

Jun 19, 2018 18:18:44 GMT 12 michaelw said:

linn's claim of precision engineering on the lp12 was really a load of rocking horse poo.
they were just as suspect to the vagaries of small scale production as any small tt maker.

there were good ones, bad ones and ones in the middle.
you'll know when you have a good one

easy to setup once you know what you are trying to achieve and a good one stays setup.
easier in fact than the early wt amadeus with the wacky three independent towers.

sub's one looks good, even the mat appears to be in good condition.

Yep, that's pretty much my experience too.

If you want annoying and fiddly, try a SOTA... the Linn is a walk in the park.. same degree of difficulty as my Thoren'zzzz.. and they aren't .

My LP12 is an early 39000 serial model.. big red neon start button, no prop hole, smoked lid and no valhalla, 

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

They say the same thing about Gyrodecs, but IME these machines are all a bit analogous to British motorcycles. You just have to learn their little ways of doing things (and mop up the oil leaks afterwards...)

Oil leaks were part of the British Leyland underbody corrosion protection system 

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

From memory now....
I firstly had a NZ assembled Tawa wood plinthed LP12, Basik LV-X (later Sumiko FT-3(?)), various cartridges.

Then, a black Ash non-fluted plinthed LP12, Ittok LVII, various carts - later Lingo PSU.

sub - from here, the wood on your plinth looks like NZ Kauri - not Oak nor Afromosia or Rosewood.

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was kauri an option ?

$$$

mine was tawa.