New belt for LP12: how much?!?

I doubt it.  The US price is now something like $80.   I guess a captive market comes into play.

Guess they pitch the price at what people are prepared to pay rather than as a function of cost. as Matt says a captive market!

The right-size rubber band should do the trick, eh !

Probably get half a dozen down at WH Smith for less than a fiver.

OTOH, for an extra £45 you might notice a difference that beats the hell out of an upgrade from a un-serviced CB250 to a new 500DR.

Might be worth a punt after all ?

Finally got one from a "reputable" dealer for £18 leaving the difference, a whole 32 quid, to put towards a new cartridge. That's more likely! 

Linn put the price up a couple of months ago. There's 20 odd pages of comments on their forum, and yet not a single comment from Linn about it. 

Can only guess that you got one for £18 because you were lucky enough to find a dealer who had stock bought in before the hike. 

New belts 'The Elastik' are apparently all personally blessed by Ivor and undergo a full-immersion baptism in The Clyde - sorry, Klyde.

John.

Apparently Linn now recommend replacing the belt less regularly - I dont if there has been any changes in the rubber they are using such that the belts can be used for longer.... personally I think this is rip-off from Linn..... I have a LP12 which is now is a 'mid range' in the Linn LP12 range - I like the sound the deck gives - but I must say that upgrades are getting expensive and getting on to be a bit ridiculous in terms of value in my view... I am very near to looking at an alternative deck for my next upgrade

I concur with your sentiments Fernar. I love the sound of my high-spec LP12/Aro combo and have no plans to change it, but almost hate myself for getting sucked into the ridiculously priced maelstrom which shows no sign of abating.

There is a lot to be said for the beautifully understated and elegant 'plonk and play' Rega RP10. With the new Apheta 2 cartridge, I reckon it's a corker and unbeatable at the price.

John. 

Just found another  one, from an official Linn dealer, for £29.80. Bottom line is don't be a muppet and DO NOT pay full price. Don't be taken for a mug. Shop around!!!

Tony2011 posted:

Just found another  one, from an official Linn dealer, for £29.80. Bottom line is don't be a muppet and DO NOT pay full price. Don't be taken for a mug. Shop around!!!

Quite right.

I bought a new Radikal and got a free belt - that showed Linn 

Chris Dolan posted:

Tony2011 posted:

Just found another  one, from an official Linn dealer, for £29.80. Bottom line is don't be a muppet and DO NOT pay full price. Don't be taken for a mug. Shop around!!!

Quite right.

I bought a new Radikal and got a free belt - that showed Linn 

Well done, brother Chris! 

J.N. posted:

I concur with your sentiments Fernar. I love the sound of my high-spec LP12/Aro combo and have no plans to change it, but almost hate myself for getting sucked into the ridiculously priced maelstrom which shows no sign of abating.

There is a lot to be said for the beautifully understated and elegant 'plonk and play' Rega RP10. With the new Apheta 2 cartridge, I reckon it's a corker and unbeatable at the price.

John. 

Agree with you John.I have been a LP 12 user for the last 25 years and have a Vahalla Ittok Decca London Supergold example.

I was staggered when I found out that the  Akito arm sells for £ 1500 these days.Average arm at best.Well over priced. The lid on the other hand is £150 at my local dealers it seems quite good value compared to the belt at least you can see it and it's got some tactile quality about it !

I really admire Rega for making great VFM products just can't believe Linn's prices.

As other posters have said captive market and all that. I appreciate Linn are a business but it does seem greedy this belt price hike and as they won't justify their increase to their faithful on the Linn forum it smacks of cynicism by them to the people who have made them lots of dosh....They do say those Scots are canny with their money !

Tabby cat posted:

J.N. posted:

I concur with your sentiments Fernar. I love the sound of my high-spec LP12/Aro combo and have no plans to change it, but almost hate myself for getting sucked into the ridiculously priced maelstrom which shows no sign of abating.

There is a lot to be said for the beautifully understated and elegant 'plonk and play' Rega RP10. With the new Apheta 2 cartridge, I reckon it's a corker and unbeatable at the price.

John. 

Agree with you John.I have been a LP 12 user for the last 25 years and have a Vahalla Ittok Decca London Supergold example.

I was staggered when I found out that the  Akito arm sells for £ 1500 these days.Average arm at best.Well over priced. The lid on the other hand is £150 at my local dealers it seems quite good value compared to the belt at least you can see it and it's got some tactile quality about it !

I really admire Rega for making great VFM products just can't believe Linn's prices.

As other posters have said captive market and all that. I appreciate Linn are a business but it does seem greedy this belt price hike and as they won't justify their increase to their faithful on the Linn forum it smacks of cynicism by them to the people who have made them lots of dosh....They do say those Scots are canny with their money !

 That's how much i paid for my ex-dem P9 that comes fitted with Rega's RB1000 - a £900 arm which seems to be very highly rated.

Linn really are pulling their customers pants down at those prices. 

but still I don't think anyone who loves their LP12 is going to sell it because of this.

A manufacturer has fixed costs, factory, overheads, salaries to pay, and has to pay them each month, whether there are sales or not....

rackkit posted:

 That's how much i paid for my ex-dem P9 that comes fitted with Rega's RB1000 - a £900 arm which seems to be very highly rated.

Linn really are pulling their customers pants down at those prices. 

Linn may be guilty of the pulling down of the bloomers but the customers are ultimately responsible for the bending over and paying the cost. 

I'd agree that Rega's mid to upper level TTs and arms are good VFM and seem to hold their value very well over time. On the other hand, and perhaps more germane to the OP, I just replaced the original (black) belt on my RP6 with Rega's reference (white) belt. Couldn't hear a goddamned bit of difference between the two. Next time I'll buy the black belt, save myself $20 and buy a new LP. Then again, I may just go to the hardware store, find a suitable O-ring for 99¢, and buy myself three new LPs.

joerand posted:

rackkit posted:

 That's how much i paid for my ex-dem P9 that comes fitted with Rega's RB1000 - a £900 arm which seems to be very highly rated.

Linn really are pulling their customers pants down at those prices. 

Linn may be guilty of the pulling down of the bloomers but the customers are ultimately responsible for the bending over and paying the cost. 

I'd agree that Rega's mid to upper level TTs and arms are good VFM and seem to hold their value very well over time. On the other hand, and perhaps more germane to the OP, I just replaced the original (black) belt on my RP6 with Rega's reference (white) belt. Couldn't hear a goddamned bit of difference between the two. Next time I'll buy the black belt, save myself $20 and buy a new LP. Then again, I may just go to the hardware store, find a suitable O-ring for 99¢, and buy myself three new LPs.

I changed the 2 standard belts on the P9 for White versions & like you, couldn't hear a difference. They do look cool though - haha!  

After saying all the stuff about the Linn LP 12 belt costing so much - I now find that as a result of getting my N272, the LP12 side of the business seems the weak link - My LP12 is as fillows:

LP12 + Lingo 3 + Ekos (1) + Tigerpaw Khan + Dynavector DV20x  feeding a Dynavector P-75 Phono pre-amp....

I am looking to upgrade to a Kore (I cant really cost justify a Keel to myself) and then looking to upgrade the cartridge + phono preamp.

On the Cartride side, I like the look of the new Krystal cartridge (I have yet to give it a listen)

For the Phono preamp - I think I have one of two options (maybe three) - either a Linn Uphorik or Naim Stageline. For the LP12 config I have, I suspect that Naim Superline may overkill.

I see that for me to use the Stageline, I will need to buy a external power supply since the N272 cant provide this - would the Hicap be the best power supply in my situation? I read somewhere that there is a cheaper 'wall-plug' power supply available from Naim - if this is true, would this work with the Superline? My thinking is to get the better Phono preamp (Superline)  with this cheap 'wall-plug' power supply and then upgrade to Hicap at a later date.... i.e. the third option

The cost of a Stageline + Hicap is about the same as the Linn Uphorik - has anyone compared the two ? If so how different did they sound?

can you clarify please? is the digital side of N272 giving your LP12 a run for the money?

In my view yes very much so..... for CDs ripped with in FLAC or WAV format.... I would say for well recorded hi-res music, it leaves my LP12 (in it's current configuration) behind in my view...

But I think it's the cartridge/phono pre-amp is the limiting factor

I bought my LP12 in 1990 and never listened to any other tt until recently. Did a demo on another tt and have never been happier with my music......oh yes, I sold the LP12. The replacement 'belts' are free for life on my new turntable.

And what is that turntable please ?

about n272 I also found it very good, in fact if buying today I would have bought a 272 instead of my 282

analogmusic posted:

And what is that turntable please ?

 

about n272 I also found it very good, in fact if buying today I would have bought a 272 instead of my 282

Analogmusic,

That is quite a statement (no pun intended).  The N272 must be very good indeed.  Od course, it does not take a Supercap...

Charlie

PS: How old is your 282, or how many years since service?

My 282 is around 6 years old

i'm not saying 272 without PSU is better than 282/HCDR   but it has advantages (built in DAC, psu, streaming), 

Charlie, have a listen to one at home, and you will hopefully hear why I like 272 so much

So 272 doesn't take a Supercap, but it will take a PS555, and use that for the internal dac and preamp. 

analogmusic posted:

My 282 is around 6 years old

i'm not saying 272 without PSU is better than 282/HCDR   but it has advantages (built in DAC, psu, streaming), 

 

 

OK, I think I understand.  There is a value for money there as well.  Fewer boxes, fewer cables, fewer levels of Fraim...  and elegance of simplicity.  Once the sound quality reaches a certain level, perhaps one looses the compulsion to take it further, and considerations of convenience win the day.  Of couse, noted that you have a 282.

Cheers,

Charlie

I will be keeping the 282, by the way.