Moving an LP12

Most of the damaged LP12s we see were not dropped. They were moved. A suspended turntable is three springs holding a heavy platter and an arm over a thin steel plate, and if it is carried with the platter on and the arm loose, every bump goes into the suspension posts, the arm bearings and the spindle. Here is how to move one so that none of that happens, whether it is going across Portland in the back of a car or across the country in a box.

Across town, in a car

1. Lift the outer platter off. It is the heavy ring on top, and it lifts straight up. Wrap it in a towel and lay it flat in the car. Take the felt mat with it.
2. Take the belt off and put it in an envelope so it does not get lost or stretched.
3. Take the counterweight off the arm and pocket it. Then secure the arm: clip it in its rest and run a strip of painter’s tape over the clip, or a small cable tie through the rest, so it cannot lift out. On an arm with a removable headshell, the stylus guard goes on first.
4. Leave the inner platter in for a short trip; it keeps the bearing closed and the oil where it belongs. For a long one, see below.
5. Carry the deck level and upright, by the plinth, never by the top plate or the arm. Sit it on the back seat or the floor with the lid closed, on a folded blanket, upright. Never on its side or upside down, and never in the trunk with anything that can slide into it.

When it arrives, put the belt and the outer platter back, fit the counterweight and reset the tracking force, and leave it a day before judging the sound. A well-set-up deck that has been moved this way usually needs nothing else.

Across the country, in a box

Shipping is where decks get hurt, and the cure is to ship an LP12 the way Linn does: as parts.

1. The arm comes off. If you are not comfortable doing that, stop here and have a Linn dealer at either end do it. An arm left on a shipped deck is the single most common cause of bent suspension posts and ruined arm bearings, because its weight sits on the sub-chassis through every jolt.
2. The platters come off, both of them, and the bearing is capped. Linn ships the bearing with a cap over the spindle hole for a reason; the inner platter and spindle travel separately, wrapped, so the spindle cannot hammer the thrust pad.
3. The sub-chassis is secured so it cannot swing on its springs. Linn’s own method uses the three original transit bolts, or an equivalent block of foam under the sub-chassis from below with the base board off.
4. Double-box it, deck in the original Linn carton if you have it, with the lid off and wrapped separately, and the whole thing in a larger box with two inches of firm foam all around. Not packing peanuts.

When it arrives, the deck should go to whoever will set it up, because it will need the arm refitted, the suspension set and the bounce tuned, which is the same work as a service. If you are the one receiving it, this is where Bringing an older LP12 up to date begins.

Moving house

Treat a move across town as a car trip and a long-distance move as shipping, and do not let the movers decide. An LP12 in a moving van, packed by someone who has never seen one, arrives bent often enough that we ask every customer who is moving to bring the deck to us first. We will prepare it for the journey and set it up again at the other end, or tell you exactly how to do both.

If it has already been moved badly

The signs are a suspension that bounces sideways, an arm that no longer floats freely, or a deck that sounds dull and congested compared to how you remember it. None of that is fatal, and most of it is put right in a service. What cannot always be put right is a bent top plate or suspension post, which is why the preparation above is worth the ten minutes it takes.

Start with a call

If you are about to move an LP12 and would like us to prepare it, or to set it up again afterward, call (503) 222-2599 or write to sales@pearlaudio.com. If the deck is coming to Portland from somewhere else, send us a photograph of how it has been packed before it is sealed, and we will tell you if anything needs changing.

— John Loranger, Pearl Audio

See also: How often does an LP12 need a service, and how to tell · Bringing an older LP12 up to date · Why every LP12 is set up by a dealer.