I really enjoyed your tour of your Linn turntable and it’s great to hear that lovely accent. I have a Rega Planar 3 with a 300 arm. I’m looking to get a Linn turntable very soon and I have noticed on eBay that some are available without an arm. Do you think it wise, if I bought one without a tonearm, to transplant my Rega arm to a Linn deck. Are Rega 300 arms a very good alternative to the cheaper Linn arms?
Geoff Roberts thank you Geoff, one thing to bear in mind if using a Rega arm on a Linn Turntable is that it would need a different arm board as the dimensions of the Rega Arms are different to the Linn Arms. It’s easy to get a Rega cut arm board for a Linn turntable. Buying an LP12 with an arm in good condition is the way I would go. I used to have a Linn Basik plus tonearm on mine but bought a modified Rega arm from Audio Origami who are excellent. It may be worth contacting them for a recommendation on arms, they also service Linn arms should you need some support. Good luck with your search for a turntable, the LP12 is a superbly engineered deck.
sam66muso thanks for your prompt reply. It was very helpful. I’ll take a look at the complete unit as you suggested. Where in Gods country are you? I live near the Rhondda Valleys.
Geoff Roberts I'm near Neath. There's a really good company quite locally (Kidwelly) who service and upgrade LP12's, very knowledgable chap he is, and does full rebuilds of Linn Turntables. The site is www.analogueinnovation.com
mrhavoc200701 thank you, I have a Denon DL110 as a spare, it sounds ok but I prefer the way the Nagaoka presents music, it has a richness and warmth which I find so comfortable listening too. I will be needing to change the cartridge and stylus within the next year or so. If you have any recommendations for a replacement I'd be glad to know. I read that a Hana MC cartridge may suit but never heard one.
I tried many MM before going to MC.I rebodied many AT95e's which works very well, amazing how good they can sound! Probably the best i heard was the Goldring 1042 but pricey for a MM. I now use a Denon DL103 with a Isokinetik stabiliser which adds mass and makes fitment easy, running through a hand build HQMC phono stage audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/hqmc-phono-stage-and-simple-psu-help-desk.548057/ to me the sound is more refined than any MM i have heard, vocals especially are stunning.I have also read good things about the Hana, and the Ortofon Quintet range is something i have been looking into.
mrhavoc200701 the DL103 is still very popular, I've not used one though. The hand build phono stage you mentioned looks really interesting having read the thread you sent. It shows that there's so much that can be done without having to spend too much. I gusts I owe it to myself to one day try a low output moving coil. I mentioned Hana as I read that they were good at reducing surface noise which is a trait of Nagaoka cartridges in my experience. I also favour a warm sound with a natural richness to the tone. I've tried Ortofon 2M Blue, Rega Exact, Audio Technica 440mlb, Denon DL110 and a few others. I've always gone back to the Nagaoka.
Building a phono stage yourself can seem a bit daunting but you can get some really good results using high quality components.Nagaoka MP carts have a lovely sound to the them.Do you still have the MP 50 ?
mrhavoc200701 yes I still have the MP50 but requires a new stylus. I bought it used and it was such a low price I was delighted with it. One of the options is to simply get a Nagaoka JNP 500 stylus which will fit the MP50. I'm using a Nagaoka MP 11 Boron at present, again bought used so I have no idea how many hours it's done. Comparing it to the MP50 there are similarities in terms of the charecteristics of both cartridges but as expected given the cost of the MP50 it does extract more detail. I guess the higher up the Nagaoka range I go gets me similar qualities but better performance.
Yes, using protractor and HiFi News vinyl test record, and it tracks as good as my Audio Technica Microline. This cartridge has a boron cantilever which is beneficial to the tracking performance.
audioorigami thanks for getting in touch, I've never thought of needing a blanking switch cover. I guess it's something I could have done when it was last dissasembled. Next time I get the base off I may consider doing it, but it won't be for a while. Thanks again.
