What every LP12 owner needs to know.

Posted by: jonni on 23 December 2002

Well there are probably lots of things but here is one you should know.
The belt only "works" in one direction and there are four to chose from.Even you dealer may not have got this right.
Basicaly the belt is ground smooth on one side only and in one direction.This stops the belt sticking to the motor and platter which causes the suspention to jerk and makes the sound bass light compressed and griany , highlighting distortion and surface noise.
If you get the belt right you do make a very notice able improvment to the sound.Think you can spend £750 on a Lingo and still spazz the sound up by doing the belt wrong.
You can check by first feeling for the smothest side of the belt the trying it in both directions,althought if you touch the belt you will get oils from your hand on it, other wize you'll just have to try all directions.
By the way when you take the platter off you'll find it sounds best only in one spot on the inner platter but thats another story.....
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Steve B
My dealer, Derek Whittington marked little arrows on my belt with a felt tip pen so I know which way it goes. I think he's been doing this for years.

quote:
By the way when you take the platter off you'll find it sounds best only in one spot on the inner platter but thats another story.....


I can't wait!

Steve B
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Paul B
It may sound like madness to those unfamiliar with the LP12 but I am quite convinced that belt orientation makes a difference. The felt mat also sounds different on each side. However, I've not heard about the position of the outer platter making a difference too.

Paul
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Steve B
quote:
Surely the weight of the ink from the felt tip will throw the balance of the belt out.


The arrows are carefully spaced around the belt so that they counter-balance each other. roll eyes

How does one know which way up the mat goes?

Steve B
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by kan man
Steve

The mat has one side which is a bit more tightly compressed and 'shiny'. The other side has slightly looser fibres and looks a bit darker. My preference is for shiny side down (i.e. shiny in contact with platter). I find this makes bass lines a little more tuneful and easier to follow compared to the other way.

Regards
Steve
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Steve B
Steve B
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by garyi
Good god, don't you guys have family to visit, drink to drunk etc at this time of year? roll eyes
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Alex S.
Having spent the last month scrutinising my LP12 belt under a microscope (I call mine Peter by the way), I have discovered that if you remove 1 in every 10 of the ridges on the rough side with a scalpel (10A blade for anyone who wants to try), the sound is dramatically, and I mean dramatically, different.

Alex
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Mick P
Alex

What you mean to say is that the platter doesn't rotate.

Regards

Mick
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Steve B
quote:
Go and join a chess club whilst the rest of us just listen to music


Listen to music? Pah, how boring.

Bye the way, just had an email from my dealer. Apparently the arrows are there for streamlining only.

Steve B
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by count.d
quote:
Happy coincidence

Having spent the last month scrutinising my LP12 belt under a microscope (I call mine Peter by the way), I have discovered that if you remove 1 in every 10 of the ridges on the rough side with a scalpel (10A blade for anyone who wants to try), the sound is dramatically, and I mean dramatically, different.



I can believe that people have tried this.
Posted on: 23 December 2002 by Paul B
You determine the "correct" side for the mat by listening. If you cannot hear any difference then it is not a problem at all. If you can, then choose the side that sounds best. None of this is new information.

For those of you who believe that this is audio madness. Fine. I think you are crazy to listen to CDs all the time too, which really sound horrible all the time!
wink

Paul
Posted on: 24 December 2002 by jonni
"This is exactly why hi-fi people get branded as geeks . Go and join a chess club whilst the rest of us just listen to music"

Man every one else most be so cool, knowing which way round the belt is designed to go is so geeky , of course spending a couple of Grand on an LP12 then not getting the best out of it is so living on the edge!
Posted on: 24 December 2002 by jonni
That reminds of when I once went to demo amps.
I wasnt very happy with the sound and the speakers were booming a bit and I suggested (as I had a pair of the same speakers) that they moved a few more inches from the wall.He said that you can take these things too far.
Wiat there I thought, hes trying to sell me an amp that costs £1000 , which was about a months wages and that moving the speakers a few inches, which would take a few minutes ,for best sound was going too far!
Duh.He most have been so cool, that's life on the edge.

Oh by the way the belt is designed by Linn to work this way, and the difference is quite large.Think the belt is the only thing that connects your £700 quid lingo with all its fancy speed regulation to the platter via the motor.The belt will determine the sound you get.
If anyone has had a Linn for a few years you will notice that the ineer platter gets covered in rubber from the belt which needs cleaning off.This is due to the friction of the belt on the platter, as you all know friction acts as a brake on anything moving the less friction the freer the movment.It's pure physics not mummble jummble.Many more expencive turntable use silk belts or even sellotape on its smooth side to run the platter(Which you can't do on a LP12 for various reasons).
Posted on: 24 December 2002 by Paul B
Once read about an audiophile who used dental floss for the drive belt on an exotic and very expensive turntable (which hasn't been made in years unlike the LP12). I believe that tying the correct knot really altered the soundstage and of course the resulting reproduction of rear wall reflections. Damn stuff would break constantly. The dental floss had to be a certain type, too, if I remember correctly. I'm sure that certain types coloured (or flavoured) the sound - but offered a minty freshness to the oboe. wink

Paul
Posted on: 24 December 2002 by Steve B
I wonder if anyone's tried chain drive?

If it's good enough for a bicycle...

Steve B