The Emperor’s New Clothes?

I was contacted during the first lockdown by one of our original customers. Like many people, he had taken the time to reflect on things in his life and decided the time had come to bring his system into the 21st Century. Conversations were had and recommendations were made and he augmented his CD player with a PSU and changed his speakers. He was very happy.

Following on from this, it was clear that his turntable could benefit from similar treatment as it was now somewhat left behind. He was unsure as to what he could possibly gain but as his 1981 LP12 was essentially period correct, a whole host of Linn and third-party upgrades were at his disposal. Several more conversations were had over the coming months (and additional lockdowns) before we agreed on the best course of action. His underlying concern was that his ‘old ears’ wouldn’t appreciate the difference to the magnitude I had described to him. However, he has full trust in our advice. He had been an astute upgrader throughout his Hi-Fi journey and was always keen to not fall down the automatic upgrade slide by balancing performance against cost with every change.

Typically, upgrades are done one at a time by our clients. Given what was planned, the turntable would be altered beyond recognition but visually, it would remain very close to the original aesthetic. Something those of us who move within the car world would refer to as a sleeper; visually unassuming but performing on a completely different level than anticipated. All well and good, but how does this translate to the real world? In the case of his recent install, it has completely surprised both the client and these very experienced eyes and ears.

Linn have made some fantastic leaps in performance over the last decade. Thanks to the design approach of the LP12, this means you can pretty much swap out any component to current specification with very little effort.

New clothes? Absolutely not. New level of performance? Absolutely.