Bringing this thread back to life. I happened to have the opportunity to do an 'AB' today against the Palmer 2.5. This is the TT that I had thought earlier would be a nice upgrade to my Linn. Today, a fellow a'phile obliged me, by bringing his Palmer equipped with the Origami PU7 arm over to listen to against my just modded LP12 with Radikal D and Kore/Cirkus.
We played a number of LP's...from Sheffield Labs well known Track LP, to the M&K LP For Duke and the under-rated (IMO) Sheffield Lab Michael Newman classical guitar LP and lastly to the Music Matters re-issue of Hank Mobley's Soul station..on 45rpm.
Well, the results were very interesting...the Palmer was, in both of our opinions, a little outclassed! While the Palmer was slightly more capable in producing the bottom end ( only really noticeable on the Track LP) it was far less able to float images, seemed to lose information on the more dense sections of the For Duke LP and was far less resolving on all the LP's. The Linn was much more capable and seemed more accurate ...particularly evident on the Michael Newman LP. My friend commented that the Linn was able to resolve the string sound of Michael's guitar with what he called a better "nylon sound".
On the 45rpm Hank Mobley, it was quite evident that the Palmer was not able to portray Hank's saxophone air as well as the LP12. Could this have been attributed to the cartridge that was on the Palmer? It is possible as the Origami was fitted with a Lyra Delos....while my WTA is fitted with a Benz Ruby 2...BUT this does seem unlikely.
Moral of this one, is that while I had pined for the Palmer before, after this experience, it is no longer on my radar. I guess the good old Linn still has the moves!
This was a great read!
I wanted to add, that for anyone who feels that they have reached the end of the road with their LP12 - and is ready to invest in a whole new table - I would strongly encourage them to try one more (cheap) LP12 tweak...
The "Springless"LP12!
Imagine an LP12 with a barely suspended sub-chassis and plinth, supported only by fairly firm, clear silicone grommets under gravitational pressure.
The LINN springs and grommets are totally gone!
They are called
AUDIOSILENTE SILICONE MUSHROOMS and are made in Japan - originally intended for this exact purpose - for THORENS turntables.
Turns out they fit the LINN sub-chassis perfectly and have finally shown what our highly tweaked LP12 is really capable of.
It wasn't my idea, but the Kiwi and Aussie Linnies that put me on to it swore by it - and none of them have ever returned. We're a rebellious bunch, down in the colonies...
It's cheap and easy to try - and reverse - and makes perfect sense from an engineering standpoint, because it goes a long way towards solving the decades old problem of the Linn motor trying to rotate the sub-chassis - wreaking havoc on speed and flutter in the process,
We all purchased the mushrooms from the friendly and helpful Lennart from LinnArts in Sweden. He sells all manner of LP12 treasures - including genuine LINN parts and third-party items - and again, swears by the mushrooms as being the highest form of LP12 in his box of tricks.
I'm REALLY not missing the bounce at all - and there are no footfall issues with our toddler jumping around the listening room and robot vacuum-cleaner bumping the rack while spinning (never were previously, actually) - and the sound has moved-up into an entirely different league.
I'd be very happy to bat the idea around some - as this upgrade made more difference than any we have applied to our LP12 hot-rod.
For reference, our LP12 uses the STACK AUDIO ALTO sub-chassis which the AUDIO SILENTE SILICONE MUSHROOMs fitted like they were made for each other. We have the new KAROUSEL bearing and sub-platter and a highly modified ORIGIN LIVE DC motor speed control unit fed by a 160W ultra-low-noise Linear Power Supply. The original LINN ITTOK gave way to our new WAND PLUS 9.5" tonearm. Our LP12 plinth is rigidly threaded and spiked to our support, using rock-solid BLACK DIAMOND RACING CONES and we run a jointless, silicone BLUE BELT.
As for my favourite cartridge, I have to admit that after more than a decade of enjoying our
SHELTER 501/2, we are really enjoying our new
DENON DL-103R! It delivers a big-boned performance that gets straight to the heart of the music. The bass is deep and tight and the treble extended. A great match for the (fully weighted) WAND PLUS tonearm and there seems to be no reason to spend more.
A bonus of the DENON DL-103R is that the conical tip does not require life and death alignment. This was not the case with our SHELTER, which only came on song with absolutely perfect alignment. With the big DENON, close enough is good enough. I have tried various minute changes and they are inaudible, so I believe this to be true.