Sondek LP12 · Parts and options
Every part, one at a time
Twenty-two parts, from the plinth to the dust cover: what each does, what it changes, and what it costs at Pearl Audio. Use the list below to jump to a group.
The options
Every part, one at a time
The LP12 as a set of parts: what each one does, what Linn and independent reviewers say it changes, and what it costs at Pearl Audio. Where a part is listed on our site you can read more and reserve it; where it is not, ask us. Most of these parts are on our shelves for immediate installation, and our technicians fit them on the bench, re-set the suspension, check speed and geometry, and return the deck ready to play.
If you are planning a series of upgrades rather than one, the order matters. The short version: bearing first on any deck that predates the Karousel, then the sub-chassis, then the power supply, then the arm, then the cartridge, with the phono stage as the final step toward Klimax specification. The Upgrading page sets the sequence out in full, and the LP12 Upgrader prices it for a recent deck.
Plinth and top plate
Standard plinth
Hardwood frame since 1972 · corner bracing since 1984 · five finishes
What it changesThe frame that carries the top plate and the three suspension points, in smooth kiln-dried hardwood: Oak, Cherry, Black Ash, Rosenut or Walnut at one price. A new plinth renews a damaged or dated deck or changes its finish; fluted, high-gloss, Piano Black, Alpine White and any RAL color are made to order.
What you hearNo sonic claim for a like-for-like plinth change, and we would not make one. We treat it as a structural and cosmetic renewal.
Fluted plinths and special finishes are priced on request. We stock all five standard finishes.
Bedrok
2023 on the LP12-50 · every LP12 since 2025
What it changesThe first performance upgrade for the plinth itself: layers of beech laid at right angles and pressed under heat into a solid engineered wood more than twice the density of a standard plinth, with very low resonance. Supplied with its own top plate, in natural oiled beech, and made in limited quantities. The construction and the benefits are those of the LP12-50; that deck's plinth differed only in its rounded insets for the rounded-edge top plate unique to the LP12-50.
What you hearA holistic upgrade, because every part the plinth houses benefits from it: more pace, tighter bass and greater insight, and a background that is quieter in the way the Keel made it quieter.
Sub-chassis and armboard
Majik sub-chassis
Standard on the Majik LP12
What it changesA multi-layer box of 1.5 mm aluminum sheet with a five-layer laminated armboard, replacing the pressed-steel sub-chassis of older decks. It is the modern baseline: lighter, stiffer and better damped than the original, and the part every Majik LP12 is built on.
What you hearThe entry point rather than an upgrade; a deck still on a pre-Cirkus steel chassis gains a cleaner, more stable foundation from it.
Kore
2013 · Selekt LP12
What it changesThree 1.5 mm aluminum layers bonded with Linn's own adhesive into a stiff, light box, with an armboard machined from solid, ribbed underneath and bonded to it so the two act as one piece. The arm collar bolts straight to the sub-chassis, giving the arm a direct connection to the bearing. Made for Linn arms, with versions for Rega, SME and Naim arms.
What you hearRigidity, and the removal of the damping that the old laminated armboard added: the step from Majik mechanics toward the middle of the range. Reviewers of the Selekt LP12 have credited the Kore, Lingo and Arko together with a more neutral, cleaner presentation than earlier LP12s.
Keel SE
2025 · Klimax LP12
What it changesThe highest-performance sub-chassis Linn makes: sub-chassis and armboard machined from solid aluminum, with a bracing structure cut into the underside, a stiffened path from bearing to arm collar and material removed beneath the armboard so the center of mass sits evenly on the three springs. Linn quotes a 300 percent increase in stiffness over the previous Keel.
What you hearBetter acoustic isolation, lower tracking distortion and a sub-chassis that sits in perfect balance on its three springs. Reviewing the earlier Keel with the Karousel and Ekos SE, Stereophile heard conspicuously quiet, deep black backgrounds and attributed them to the three parts being rigidly coupled.
Pictured: the original Keel, which the Keel SE develops. Made for Linn tonearms; ask us about yours.
Bearing
Karousel
2020 · standard on every current LP12
What it changesThe single-point bearing rebuilt: stainless-steel housing, a smaller and stiffer thrust-pad housing and a substantial lock-nut that clamps the bearing to the sub-chassis. Retrofits to any LP12 except decks still carrying a Valhalla, Wakonda or third-party supply inside the plinth; older outer platters may need replacing.
What you hearSmoother rotation, greater stability, and reproduction that is more accurate and detailed. In practice it is the single change most owners of a Cirkus deck notice first: a quieter background and a firmer sense of pitch.
Motor and power supply
Majik power supply
First and current generation, December 2007 · internal · 33⅓ rpm
What it changesA low-noise supply board inside the plinth that filters the mains and drives the 110 V AC synchronous motor at 33⅓ rpm; 45 rpm comes from an adaptor over the pulley. The supply fitted to every Majik LP12, and the replacement for a tired Valhalla on an older deck.
What you hearLess motor judder from cleaner power. It is the quiet starting point; the Lingo is the upgrade from here.
Lingo
Fourth generation, 2018 · Selekt LP12
What it changesA hybrid supply: a board inside the deck where the Valhalla once sat, a slim external supply, and a 12 V AC motor. The sine wave is generated digitally, and a sensor reads a mark on the platter to check speed on every rotation, recalibrating at power-on. Switched 33⅓ and 45 rpm. Fits any plinth made after 1984.
What you hearThe first upgrade to make to a Majik-level deck, and the one most of our Majik owners make. Hi-Fi+ found the fourth-generation Lingo made the LP12 that bit tauter and more focused, with the tonal character of recordings unchanged and the difference lying in precision.
Radikal and Klimax Radikal
DC motor · 2009, 2021, 2025
What it changesA brushed DC motor in an isolated housing and a controller that measures platter speed on every rotation and corrects it; the supply also powers a Urika phono stage inside the deck. The standard Radikal comes in the Akurate-style case. The Klimax Radikal of 2025 adds a Utopik supply with separate self-regulating rails for motor and phono stage, in a chassis machined from three solid pieces of aluminum weighing nearly 14 kg.
What you hearRotation closer to 33⅓ than any other turntable we know of, and it is the speed stability you hear: notes hold their pitch to the end. Stereophile, reviewing a Klimax LP12 with the previous Radikal, described its tempo, focus and immediacy as near-laboratory quality.
Owners of an earlier Radikal can have the 2025 motor control unit fitted as Linn's Radikal Performance Upgrade; ask us.
Tonearms
Krane
2020 · Majik LP12
What it changesA static-balanced arm with a polished tungsten-and-sapphire vertical bearing and a dual ceramic horizontal bearing, a laser-etched scale for repeatable arm-height adjustment, magnetic anti-skate and Linn's own effective length and offset angle. Sold without a tonearm cable.
What you hearHi-Fi News measured bearing friction under 10 mg on the Majik LP12 package and found it makes music sound natural, unforced, easy and yet expressive and emotional. Linn has photographed the Krane in a palette of painted colors to match custom plinths; ask us what is currently available.
Arko
2022 · Selekt LP12
What it changesLinn's first all-new arm since the Ekos SE: a gimballed design in 7075-grade aluminum from the cold-drawn arm tube to the headshell and gimbal, with a machined stainless-steel counterweight and a single-piece polished stainless through-spindle. Effective length 229 mm, effective mass 10 g, for cartridges of 2 to 10 g.
What you hearMore depth, impact and emotion from the gimballed platform, and a natural match for the Kendo so arm and cartridge share a material. Hi-Fi+ wrote that the Selekt LP12 does detailed and fun like they were going out of fashion.
Ekos SE
2006 · Klimax LP12
What it changesThe hand-built flagship: a titanium arm tube to reduce resonance, a stainless-steel bearing housing for precision of movement, bearings with less than 20 mg of friction, temperature-compensated springs for downforce and anti-skate, and a long headshell that takes almost any cartridge. The phono version is supplied with a T-Kable.
What you hearStereophile attributed the Klimax LP12's conspicuously quiet, deep black backgrounds to the Ekos SE, Keel and Karousel being rigidly coupled.
Cartridges
Adikt
Moving magnet · Majik LP12 MM
What it changesLinn's moving magnet cartridge, with an aluminum cantilever and a replaceable stylus, and a high enough output to feed the moving magnet phono input of almost any amplifier, including a Selekt DSM. The cartridge the Majik LP12 MM is built around.
What you hearHi-Fi News, testing the Majik LP12 with the Adikt, called it a punchy entry package that lets the Sondek perform well.
Replacement styli are available; ask us.
Koil
Moving coil · 2022 · Majik LP12 MC
What it changesLinn's entry moving coil: a nude MicroLinear stylus on a low-mass boron cantilever, 0.4 mV output at 5 cm/s into 100 Ω, 2.0 g tracking force, 7.6 g. Fitted to the Majik LP12 MC and available as an upgrade for any Adikt deck that has, or gains, a moving coil input.
What you hearA clear step up from the Adikt and the first step onto the ladder of premium moving coils. What Hi-Fi? found the Majik LP12 MC fluid and wonderfully cohesive.
Krystal
Moving coil
What it changesThe mid-level moving coil of the Akurate LP12 era, still current. A natural step for a Lingo-and-Kore deck that has outgrown the Koil but is not yet ready for the Kendo or Ekstatik, and a cartridge our technicians know well from a decade of fitting it.
What you hearReviewers of Akurate-era LP12s consistently described the Krystal as the point at which the Linn moving coils trade warmth for clarity; the Kendo and Ekstatik continue in that direction.
Kendo
Moving coil · 2022 · Selekt LP12
What it changesDeveloped from the Ekstatik: a boron cantilever, a Super Fine Line stylus, 4N copper coils and a rigid nickel-coated 7075 aluminum body with aluminum-bronze threaded inserts. 0.45 mV at 3.54 cm/s into 100 Ω, 2.0 g, 7.6 g. Designed alongside the Arko so that arm and cartridge share one material.
What you hearThe most level frequency response of any Linn cartridge, and it sounds that way: even from top to bottom. StereoNET called the Selekt LP12 with Kendo a highly emotional performer; Hi-Fi+ heard a crisp, dry treble and detail that was fresh rather than nostalgic.
Ekstatik
Flagship moving coil · 2021 · Klimax LP12
What it changesA micro-ridge stylus on a sapphire cantilever, far stiffer than boron or aluminum; a square armature wound with 4N copper; a honeycomb-machined 7075 aluminum body with a diamond-like carbon coating and aluminum-bronze inserts, mounted at three points. 0.45 mV at 3.54 cm/s into 100 Ω, 2.0 g, 7 g. Designed with EMT/HiFiction in Switzerland.
What you hearAn agile, responsive cartridge that sets the bar for how an arm and a cartridge work together. Stereophile wrote that the Klimax LP12 with Ekstatik preserved the structure of a Miles Davis recording better than any turntable the reviewer had heard it on.
Phono stages
Uphorik
External · moving magnet and moving coil
What it changesLinn's external phono stage in an Akurate chassis, with moving magnet and moving coil inputs and adjustable gain and loading. The choice for an LP12 that feeds a non-Linn preamplifier, or a Linn DSM without a phono input, and for Majik and Selekt decks that have not yet taken a Radikal.
What you hearA clean, quiet stage that lets a Koil, Krystal or Kendo be heard through Luxman, McIntosh, Burmester or Audio Research electronics; we pair it with all four.
Urika and Urika II
Inside the plinth · 2009 and 2018
What it changesBoth mount on the Trampolin inside the plinth and are powered by the Radikal, so the cartridge signal travels inches before amplification. The Urika is an analog moving coil stage with RCA and transformer-coupled XLR outputs. The Urika II digitizes the signal at once, applies the RIAA curve in the digital domain with per-unit calibration, lets you set loading for your cartridge, and sends the result losslessly over Exakt Link to an Exakt-enabled Linn DS or DSM.
What you hearFor the Urika II: lower distortion, lower noise and more music, because the signal is digitized inches from the cartridge. The Ear, reviewing the 2026 Klimax LP12 with Urika II, found that congestion audible on a Selekt LP12 in the same system vanished.
Both require a Radikal. Radikal and Urika packages are listed in the store; ask us which suits your deck.
Base boards and finishing touches
Solid Base
1991 original · aluminum version 2006 · Majik LP12
What it changesA rigid aluminum base board with fixed feet that closes the plinth. The solid board replaced the hardboard base in 1991, and the aluminum version arrived with the Trampolin 2 in 2006. The base fitted to the Majik LP12.
What you hearA tidy foundation, and the right choice when the deck already sits on an isolating platform such as an HRS rack: two soft suspensions in series are not better than one, and the rigid board lets the platform do the work. On ordinary furniture, the Trampolin is the performance step from here.
Trampolin
1991 original Trampolin · 2006 Trampolin 2 · Selekt and Klimax LP12
What it changesAn aluminum base board on suspended feet with acoustic damping material, fixed directly to the plinth, that isolates the deck from the shelf beneath it and carries the Urika on Radikal decks. Retrofits to any LP12.
What you hearThe simplest performance upgrade on the list: isolation from whatever the deck is standing on. On a suspended wooden floor it is the first thing we reach for.
T-Kable
Tonearm cable · 1.2 m or 1.7 m · RCA or XLR
What it changesLinn's tonearm cable from the base of the arm to the phono stage, in two lengths and with RCA or XLR termination. The Krane is sold without a cable; the Ekos SE phono version includes one.
What you hearA low-capacitance cable matched to Linn cartridges; we fit the length your rack needs.
Dust cover and service parts
Lid, belt, oil, springs and grommets
What it changesThe clear acrylic lid on spring-loaded hinges, an option on every LP12 since 1979, plus the consumables a deck needs over its life: a belt that Linn says should last at least five years of regular use, Linn's own black bearing oil, and the springs and grommets that are renewed when a suspension is rebuilt.
What you hearA clean belt and fresh grommets are often the difference between an LP12 that sounds slow and one that sounds right.
Hear it in Portland
Most of these parts are on our shelves.
Bring your deck, or hear the part on one of ours, before you decide. Our technicians fit most upgrades the day you choose them.
Arrange an LP12 auditionOr call (503) 222-2599 · sales@pearlaudio.com · Back to the LP12 overview