I've heard the advice: you are supposed to put your Linn Sondek on a small but rigid and light table...
Well, I'm sorry, my life is not like that, no extra floor space available for dedication to the turntable.
But I thought, I might get away with balancing the Linn by putting some fairly stiff small pieces of paper under the back feet. I did that a couple weeks ago to a great feeling of satisfaction, seeing as how I'd made the turntable almost perfectly level, instead of the previous off by about 1 degree (or whatever 1 big mark means on my large circular level from KAB), tilted toward the back.
However, in infrequently playing discs since, I'd been noticing the Linn "isolation" was not what it was cracked up to be.
Finally, I put two and two together, and realized that my leveling mod may have increased instability. So I removed those little piles of paper behind the back feet, and presto, the fairly decent Linn mid-bass and up isolation has returned. I can tap on the underneath the shelf pretty well without visibly upsetting the lp surface. Previously, anything more that the very smallest touch would set it going.
The Linn guru Mark warned me that to level the table I should "fix" the stand. He was right about that. But it's not going to be easy to "fix the stand." So it can wait until the stand gets moved back after the next remodel (replacing the window behind it has to get done before too long, and the floor underneath it).
Sadly the fixed Linn Sondek feet appear to be an essential part of the whole rig, and they must sit down atop a rigid surface, just as the Linnie advice suggests. As far as the table being light, that another thing I don't believe and can't imagine accomplishing.
Also I don't believe in the superiority of not clamping, but for casual background listening, unclamped playing is far easier (one must remember to remove the felt washer!!! a mistake I've made a few times) and works better on Linn than most tables. It does increase the rhythm and tunefulness (Linn emphasizes the tunefulness, not the rhythm) however it blurs the detail--which is only really important for serious listening. I find, however, that unclamped playing is slightly harmful for the tonality--which becomes a bit hashier even as it becomes more "tuneful."
The soft springs of the Linn actually protect the bearing when you are applying the clamp. Only suspended tables do that, usually you are crushing down on the bearing when you apply the clamp, and that could be harmful to many turntable bearings. On the Linn, the table only goes down a few mm before the platter hits the top of the plinth, which supports it nicely when you are clamping, with only the light springs loading the actual bearing. I used to think it abominable to press the turntable down to the nice plinth top, but now it seems like it was made just for that.
The best way to clamp is kneeling down so the vinyl is at eye level. Then, wriggle clamp down slightly for maximum vinyl flatness. Some, but not excessive, pressure is required, mainly just enough to keep the clamp from slipping off the short Linn spindle. Too much pressure may cause additional bowing with the edge rising.
Well, I'm sorry, my life is not like that, no extra floor space available for dedication to the turntable.
But I thought, I might get away with balancing the Linn by putting some fairly stiff small pieces of paper under the back feet. I did that a couple weeks ago to a great feeling of satisfaction, seeing as how I'd made the turntable almost perfectly level, instead of the previous off by about 1 degree (or whatever 1 big mark means on my large circular level from KAB), tilted toward the back.
However, in infrequently playing discs since, I'd been noticing the Linn "isolation" was not what it was cracked up to be.
Finally, I put two and two together, and realized that my leveling mod may have increased instability. So I removed those little piles of paper behind the back feet, and presto, the fairly decent Linn mid-bass and up isolation has returned. I can tap on the underneath the shelf pretty well without visibly upsetting the lp surface. Previously, anything more that the very smallest touch would set it going.
The Linn guru Mark warned me that to level the table I should "fix" the stand. He was right about that. But it's not going to be easy to "fix the stand." So it can wait until the stand gets moved back after the next remodel (replacing the window behind it has to get done before too long, and the floor underneath it).
Sadly the fixed Linn Sondek feet appear to be an essential part of the whole rig, and they must sit down atop a rigid surface, just as the Linnie advice suggests. As far as the table being light, that another thing I don't believe and can't imagine accomplishing.
Also I don't believe in the superiority of not clamping, but for casual background listening, unclamped playing is far easier (one must remember to remove the felt washer!!! a mistake I've made a few times) and works better on Linn than most tables. It does increase the rhythm and tunefulness (Linn emphasizes the tunefulness, not the rhythm) however it blurs the detail--which is only really important for serious listening. I find, however, that unclamped playing is slightly harmful for the tonality--which becomes a bit hashier even as it becomes more "tuneful."
The soft springs of the Linn actually protect the bearing when you are applying the clamp. Only suspended tables do that, usually you are crushing down on the bearing when you apply the clamp, and that could be harmful to many turntable bearings. On the Linn, the table only goes down a few mm before the platter hits the top of the plinth, which supports it nicely when you are clamping, with only the light springs loading the actual bearing. I used to think it abominable to press the turntable down to the nice plinth top, but now it seems like it was made just for that.
The best way to clamp is kneeling down so the vinyl is at eye level. Then, wriggle clamp down slightly for maximum vinyl flatness. Some, but not excessive, pressure is required, mainly just enough to keep the clamp from slipping off the short Linn spindle. Too much pressure may cause additional bowing with the edge rising.
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