Vinyl Asylum: LP-12 vs. TD-150 by soundnut

Hey, gang.

There's a thread below where I mentioned the similarites between a Linn LP-12 and a Thorens TD-150. I thought for those who may have never seen the innards of the two, it might be useful to check out a side-by-side photo of the undersides of the tables. On the right, a view of the two tables with color-coded circles for parts identification.

On top is the underside of a stock Thorens TD-150, at the bottom is the Linn LP-12.

Admittedly, the Linn has prettier guts. But if we check out where everything is and how it's designed, the two are very similar.

First is the 3-point suspension system. Take a look at where the suspension points are. (Green circles) Virtually the same on both tables. The rubber grommet & spring arrangement, also the same.

The motor on both (Blue circle) are in pretty much the same spot. The arms are mounted the same, (White circle-couldn't find a TD-150 photo with the armboard attached. Sorry.) and the armboard mounting scheme is also very similar. (Armboard screws marked with purple circles.) The bearing also looks similar in design and size. (Red circle.) The power switch is marked on both models with a yellow circle.

The Linn features a motor with a seperate power supply board, whereas the Thorens has a directly connected AC motor. There are of course different power supply boards available for the Linn, the Basik, Valhalla, and the Lingo. Provided the motor speed is stabile and there's no noise from the motor, I question if the different power boards would actually impact the sonics much. I'm not being a smartass, but I don't own a Linn, so I really dunno.

The TD-150 features a combination power switch and clutch to change the speed. On mine, I pulled this whole mechanism off & replaced it with a standard power switch. Less bits to rattle around and maybe cause unwanted sonic effects. There's a lot of other stuff I did to it too, in the link below.

Frankwm said in an earlier post:

"I don't see the 'attraction' of this deck.
OK, I used it for over 15 years.
But that's because I was too mean to buy a Linn!
There's no comparison in performance terms - despite the 'similarity'. "

The last MSRP of the Linn LP-12 I could find on the web was $1700 for the basic stock model. (No bearing or power supply upgrade, etc.) My TD-150 cost $50. That, plus perhaps another $250 on a Linn arm, new cartridge, and tweaking materials, and I've got maybe $300 in it.

Would there be sonic differences between the TD-150 and the Linn IF the LP-12 were set up with the same arm and cartridge? Maybe. I can't imagine there would be $1400 worth, though.

That being said, if I were rich, I'd probably buy an LP-12 just so I could say "Looky - I've got an LP-12!"

Cheers,
Bobbo :-)

Soundnut's TD-150 (Open in New Window)