We just finished a beautiful new Linn LP12 turntable with a Woodsong plinth.  

Here are a few photos taken during the assembly. 

This is a custom build that we did for a customer who wanted a brand new Linn LP12 but with a Woodsong plinth. The Woodsong Plinths are made in Idaho by Woodsong Idaho. You can see their available plinths here: Woodsong LP12 Plinth Gallery. 

The Linn is a Majik LP12 with the new Linn Majik Tonearm and the new Linn Karousel bearing. Here is the Woodsong Plinth at the start of the build on our Linn LP12 setup jig. The Setup Jig elevates the LP12 so you can adjust the suspension from below. 

The Woodsong Plinth is absolutely gorgeous and has a lovely subtle tiger stripe finish reminiscent of beautiful custom shop Les Paul and Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars. 

Woodsong Plinth top side

Here is another Woodsong Plinth LP12 we worked on a few weeks ago - it's the Klimax LP12 on the left. These were both in for Linn Karousel bearing upgrades. 

Woodsong Linn Klimax LP12 and Cherry Linn Akurate LP12

Closeup of Klimax LP12 Woodsong Plinth Finish

Back to our build, here is the new Woodsong LP12 flipped over and you can see Chris Harban's initials on one of the corners. His work speaks for itself - absolutely beautiful! We've built a number of Woodsong LP12s and always stand in a bit of giddy awe at how beautiful they all turn out. 

Woodsong Plinth Underside

This is a Majik LP12 and comes with Linn's new Karousel Bearing and Linn's new Majik Tonearm. For comparison, the below photos shows the three iterations of the Linn LP12 bearings over the decades. This also speaks to the long-term ownership benefits to LP12 owners because you can install a Karousel into a 1973 original edition LP12 - its the same three-point mount and fits perfectly into a standard Linn LP12 sub-chassis of any era. In the background you can see a Linn Kore upgrade sub-chassis. The sub-chassis hangs in suspension inside of the LP12 with the main bearing and tonearm attached.

Linn Karousel, Cirkus, Pre-Cirkus Bearings

With the build of the Woodsong Majik LP12 finished, we took it into our small room to set up for testing - and also to have ready for the new owner to hear before he took it home.

Linn Woodsong LP12 with Luxman L-505 Integrated Amplifier

Dynaudio Confidence 30 loudspeakers in Smoke High Gloss.

This combination is extremely musical, combining the musical and quiet LP12 with the lovely golden warmth of the Luxman and the incredible detail of the new Dynaudio Confidence 30's soft-dome Esotar3 tweeters.  

The Karousel Bearing is the biggest sonic improvement we've ever heard in an LP12 - it gives the LP12 a much more still and level presentation, which makes sense considering how much rumble from a main bearing is a main culprit to noise getting into analog playback.

If you think about an LP12, its suspended sub-chassis is an island of stillness for the toneam/platter - the 3 point spring/grommet suspension isolates from floor and rack vibrations. So within that still island sub-chassis, as the platter spins, as the tonearm moves up and down, and as the cartridge stylus moves, consider four sources of localized mechanical vibration: belt, tonearm bearings, main bearing, and cartridge suspension. Of those four, the main bearing is by far the largest and is supporting the relatively enormous weight of the platter as it spins. Therefore improvements in the performance of the main beating are especially impactful in terms of performance. Karousel proves this point with incredible increases in performance on every LP12 on which we've installed it, from Majik to Klimax to vintage.

In our store, we have all three of the Linn LP12s on display - the Majik, Akurate, and Klimax - and we have all lived with and listened to them over the years in many systems. We upgraded them all with Karousel bearings this summer and are still shaking our heads at how much better the Karousel makes them sound.

Linn Majik, Akurate, Klimax LP12 in a row

If you have an LP12 and have any questions on upgrades or getting it fixed up, Pearl Audio is a Linn LP12 specialist and we do service, upgrades, and custom builds like this one. Give us a call - we're always happy to help out with a little advice and talk about Linn tables. (503) 222-2599.

Cheers,

John, Russ, Connor & Tara.