If you are unfamiliar with the high end audio world then the price of this product is a shock, but what you do not know is the high end audio world has no problem paying insane dollars chasing perfect sound. Interconnects and speaker wire costing thousands of dollars, supports for holding speaker wire above the floor, amongst a ton of snake oil. There is no question that as you move up the cost chain there are improvements but they diminish fairly quickly when you move much above $10K. The improvements are there, but most would not care. The craziest waste of money I have seen is a network switch being sold as an "audiophile" switch. It is a relabeled cheap switch that is sold for more than $500. You have to go to an audio forum to see how insane the claims are.
The CD standard, 44.1KHz, 16 bit per channel, uncompressed, was chosen by committees of experts over many years as the 'perfect' reproduction (not recording) standard, vastly superior to vinyl in every way. Almost all adults can't hear anything above 15Khz and do not have 96dB (=16 bits) of hearing range. If you want the inferiority of vinyl, simply apply a vinyl filter to degrade the audio. Then, domestic wiring cable has solid copper conductors with a higher spec than 'high-end' speaker cable at a fraction of the price. Still there are the pretentious and those with more money than sense who will forever pay more for some advertised advantage or kudos. The king always has clothes in the audio world.
If you are unfamiliar with the high end audio world then the price of this product is a shock, but what you do not know is the high end audio world has no problem paying insane dollars chasing perfect sound. Interconnects and speaker wire costing thousands of dollars, supports for holding speaker wire above the floor, amongst a ton of snake oil. There is no question that as you move up the cost chain there are improvements but they diminish fairly quickly when you move much above $10K. The improvements are there, but most would not care. The craziest waste of money I have seen is a network switch being sold as an "audiophile" switch. It is a relabeled cheap switch that is sold for more than $500. You have to go to an audio forum to see how insane the claims are.
The CD standard, 44.1KHz, 16 bit per channel, uncompressed, was chosen by committees of experts over many years as the 'perfect' reproduction (not recording) standard, vastly superior to vinyl in every way. Almost all adults can't hear anything above 15Khz and do not have 96dB (=16 bits) of hearing range. If you want the inferiority of vinyl, simply apply a vinyl filter to degrade the audio. Then, domestic wiring cable has solid copper conductors with a higher spec than 'high-end' speaker cable at a fraction of the price. Still there are the pretentious and those with more money than sense who will forever pay more for some advertised advantage or kudos. The king always has clothes in the audio world.
That’s kind of true, but it misses the point.
Yes, vinyl is technically inferior to digital audio in every way — at the high end since the mid-90s, when the first really good CD players (the CD12 by Linn, and the Karik/Numerik, also by Linn) hit the market. It took another decade and a half to trickle down into consumer audio — where what happens AFTER the DAC is usually a disaster, anyway.
But that, as I say, misses the point: for almost fifty years, music was MADE for those technical limitations. From the very microphone setup, through preamping, compression, effects, tape selection, through mixing and mastering, every single decision and setup was made with the knowledge in mind of exactly what each step would do to the sound, and how it would sound on the finished vinyl.
And since 1972, the Linn Sondek LP12 has been (one of) THE reference turntable(s) that every producer and record exec has benchmarked against.
They knew how a hot master would affect inner-groove distortion and how the limiter would slam the vocals on the lathe, and how the distortion would give the vocals an edge that could cut through on the radio or on a sub-par stereo. And this knowledge infused the entire process (it still does — I need to make completely different choices for bass sounds during composition, or stereo reverbs during mixing, for example, when I know that something will be released on vinyl).
So this really isn’t about „superiority“, but about getting as close as possible to reproducing what those guys put to tape, sixty years ago. Which is where remasterings make little sense, and where first pressings etc. really do.
There are lots of people who actually claim that vinyl is superior fidelity. They’re full of shit. If they prefer the sound (as many do), they prefer the LIMITATIONS of the medium — the frequency limits, the dynamic compression needed to fit the material between noise floor and needle distortion, and the organic distortion introduced by those limitations. Also, there is a ritual aspect to vinyl that does make it wonderful and magical.
Buying newer stuff that was specifically produced for digital reproduction falls into that world. But, as I suggested, there is plenty of stuff being produced specifically with vinyl in mind.
If you are unfamiliar with the high end audio world then the price of this product is a shock, but what you do not know is the high end audio world has no problem paying insane dollars chasing perfect sound. Interconnects and speaker wire costing thousands of dollars, supports for holding speaker wire above the floor, amongst a ton of snake oil. There is no question that as you move up the cost chain there are improvements but they diminish fairly quickly when you move much above $10K. The improvements are there, but most would not care. The craziest waste of money I have seen is a network switch being sold as an "audiophile" switch. It is a relabeled cheap switch that is sold for more than $500. You have to go to an audio forum to see how insane the claims are.
Throw in a pair of Sennheiser SE1 headphones and you’ve already spent $120,000.
If you want some top of the line loudspeakers, how about a pair of Kharma Enigma Veyron EV2, for $437,000. They make the $60,000 you spent on turntable, seem like a steal.
The fact is — and I speak from a background in psychoacoustics — modern digital audio components far exceed, objectively, the performance of old analog tech $:$. Objectively we can measure signal to noise ratio, total distortion including linear, harmonic, inter modulation distortion, etc. Preferences for higher fidelity have been repeatedly confirmed by double blind subjective listening tests of both lay and professional listeners. Analog has nostalgic value. That’s what Linn is selling and Ive is collaborating on.
Technology and science march on, the same way that a $100 modem sneaker is far more biomechanically efficient for sports than the best traditional leather footwear will ever be. Ditto for analog sound reproduction.
If you are unfamiliar with the high end audio world then the price of this product is a shock, but what you do not know is the high end audio world has no problem paying insane dollars chasing perfect sound. Interconnects and speaker wire costing thousands of dollars, supports for holding speaker wire above the floor, amongst a ton of snake oil. There is no question that as you move up the cost chain there are improvements but they diminish fairly quickly when you move much above $10K. The improvements are there, but most would not care. The craziest waste of money I have seen is a network switch being sold as an "audiophile" switch. It is a relabeled cheap switch that is sold for more than $500. You have to go to an audio forum to see how insane the claims are.
Oh, I'm familiar with the phenomenon. I know a couple of real audiophiles who chase that "perfect sound." One of my high school friends travels the world regularly as the head sound guy for a few different bands.
My "bewilderment" is primarily due to people being willing to spend only slightly less than the U.S. median household income on a record player in order to accomplish that. I totally get wanting excellent sound, but as you allude, there is a point of diminishing returns, and I'm highly skeptical that this particular example of conspicuous consumption is for anything other than bragging rights.
If you are unfamiliar with the high end audio world then the price of this product is a shock, but what you do not know is the high end audio world has no problem paying insane dollars chasing perfect sound. Interconnects and speaker wire costing thousands of dollars, supports for holding speaker wire above the floor, amongst a ton of snake oil. There is no question that as you move up the cost chain there are improvements but they diminish fairly quickly when you move much above $10K. The improvements are there, but most would not care. The craziest waste of money I have seen is a network switch being sold as an "audiophile" switch. It is a relabeled cheap switch that is sold for more than $500. You have to go to an audio forum to see how insane the claims are.
While there is lots of snake oil in the hi-fi accessories world, using that term when discussing a Linn turntable is quite disingenuous, they've been making fantastic products for decades. It always amuses me to see how judgmental people are about money wrt things like this, people have no qualms spending that on a hulk of polluting metal that depreciates quickly from the moment you buy it yet a device that will produce a lifetime of enjoyment is somehow "bewildering".
I don't think Linn was being lumped in as "snake oil,' but when you consider that the already superb Linn Sondek LP12 normally sells for $5,000-$7,000, one might wonder what this limited edition will provide, other than Ive's involvement and the exclusivity of only 250 units, that would justify a price tag almost 9X higher at $60,000 than the current most expensive Linn.
If you are unfamiliar with the high end audio world then the price of this product is a shock, but what you do not know is the high end audio world has no problem paying insane dollars chasing perfect sound. Interconnects and speaker wire costing thousands of dollars, supports for holding speaker wire above the floor, amongst a ton of snake oil. There is no question that as you move up the cost chain there are improvements but they diminish fairly quickly when you move much above $10K. The improvements are there, but most would not care. The craziest waste of money I have seen is a network switch being sold as an "audiophile" switch. It is a relabeled cheap switch that is sold for more than $500. You have to go to an audio forum to see how insane the claims are.
While there is lots of snake oil in the hi-fi accessories world, using that term when discussing a Linn turntable is quite disingenuous, they've been making fantastic products for decades. It always amuses me to see how judgmental people are about money wrt things like this, people have no qualms spending that on a hulk of polluting metal that depreciates quickly from the moment you buy it yet a device that will produce a lifetime of enjoyment is somehow "bewildering".
I don't think Linn was being lumped in as "snake oil,' but when you consider that the already superb Linn Sondek LP12 normally sells for $5,000-$7,000, one might wonder what this limited edition will provide, other than Ive's involvement and the exclusivity of only 250 units, that would justify a price tag almost 9X higher at $60,000 than the current most expensive Linn.
The 5000€ version of the Sondek is the Basik LP12. The full version, the Klimax LP12, with the Radikal power supply/motor controller, Keel subchassis, Urika pre-amp, etc. starts at around 30,000€.
The LP12-50 adds an exclusive new plinth material technology, plus the special edition design and the exclusivity of being one of 250 — for whatever those things are worth, they're at least in the ballpark of the otherwise top-end model.
IF you've got the cash laying about, there's a lot dumber things you could spend it on, IMHO.
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Technology and science march on, the same way that a $100 modem sneaker is far more biomechanically efficient for sports than the best traditional leather footwear will ever be. Ditto for analog sound reproduction.
The LP12-50 adds an exclusive new plinth material technology, plus the special edition design and the exclusivity of being one of 250 — for whatever those things are worth, they're at least in the ballpark of the otherwise top-end model.
IF you've got the cash laying about, there's a lot dumber things you could spend it on, IMHO.