VPI Aries to Linn

[George Prentice]

I upgraded my turntables in the ‘80s. But it wasn’t until the ‘90s that I could afford a high end TT and cartridge (Van den Hull Frog). I was simply astounded. The record noise disappeared and detail and musicality went through the room. I upgraded my phonostages for a couple of decades… Audio Research SP 2, 2SE, 3, 3se, and finally SP8. Each upgrade was amazing, bringing the sound quality from the same table to another level.

Finally it was time to upgrade again about five years ago. I looked very carefully at VPI… read extensively on contemporary tables, and being an old fart ran into Linn and Soto… etc. I did a lot of research and finally fell upon Linn as it both satisfied a significant upgrade, but also was somewhat nostalgic. Also, my dealer / friend was a Linn master technician and loved them.

My last sprung table was an 1980’s AR. It was not a great sounding table… end of story. So I started with an Akurate Linn LP12. My understanding was the “liveliness” of the sound of sprung tables and the LP12 were admirable attributes. That, I could hear. But, some of that to me was like the image jumping around at very high frequency and compromising the bass. I liked the sound… but.

So I got an Ohio Class +++ Silent Running Audio vibration platform designed specifically for my LP12. It made a big difference. The vibration of images went away. The bass solidified like very heavy turntables. This was a major upgrade.

Then upgraded the sub chassis and tone arm to the top level. Each upgrade was obvious and cost effective. So I have a table I really like. The only part missing is the speed control (Radikal). I have an Audio Research Reference 3SE phonostage… so I will not be going for Linns Phonostage.

This is my journey. I’d be interested in hearing others. And the effect of the Radikal.

[Antonmb]

I had a Linn Uphorik phono stage for a few years - it was very nice, but not on a level with your AR, my Boulder, or many others out there. The new Urika converts the cartridge signal to digital, which is a bridge too far for me.

[George Prentice]

Thanks Tony. That is what my audio guy said as well… the ARC is better. I still scratch my head about conversion to digital.