Linn Sondek LP12 · Pearl Audio, Portland
Every Sondek built since 1972 shares one plinth and one geometry, so there is always a next step, and Linn has set out the order in which to take them. This page walks you through our LP12 Library in that order: what to settle first, which part comes next, what each one changes, and where to read more before you decide.
Three things to settle before any upgrade: which LP12 you have, when it was last serviced, and why the work is done by a dealer.
The serial number inside the plinth, and a look at the power supply and bearing, place any Sondek LP12 in its era and tell us what it needs first. ...
ReadAn LP12 does not drift out of tune on its own, but its springs, grommets, belt and oil do age. What the specialists suggest, the signs a deck is du...
ReadLinn does not sell the LP12 as a finished object; it sells the parts and relies on the dealer to make a turntable of them. What a setup involves, w...
ReadLinn's own sequence, and ours: foundation first, then the parts that sit on it. Each step links to the part on our site and to the Library article that explains it. Prices for every part are in the LP12 Upgrader below.
The single change most owners of a Cirkus deck notice first. Every LP12 built before March 2020 is a candidate, and Linn puts it ahead of everything else because the parts that follow are machined to clamp to it.
The suspended part the bearing and arm bolt to. The Kore takes a Majik-level deck to Selekt mechanics; the Keel SE is the Klimax LP12's sub-chassis and the step up from any Keel.
Speed is pitch. The Lingo is the first step from a Majik supply; the Radikal changes the motor itself and is the only supply below the Klimax Radikal that can power a phono stage inside the plinth.
Once the deck beneath it is settled, the arm. The Arko retired the Akito and is the Selekt LP12's arm; the Ekos SE is the hand-built titanium arm of the Klimax LP12.
The only part that touches the record, and the one that wears. A stylus lasts roughly two thousand hours; an Adikt takes a replacement stylus, and the moving coils step up from Koil through Krystal and Kendo to the Ekstatik.
On a Radikal deck the phono stage can move inside the plinth, where the cartridge signal travels inches before amplification. The Urika mounts on the Trampolin, which comes with it; on a Solid Base deck that is one part fewer to buy.
The last step, and the newest. The compressed-beech plinth of the LP12-50 became an upgrade for any Kore, Keel or Keel SE deck in 2025. Every other part moves across, so nothing else changes.
A tool for owners
Choose the LP12 you have, from the decks Linn has sold in the last ten years, tell it what has already been fitted, and it shows which upgrades fit, in Linn's order, with each part at Linn's US retail price and a running total. Send the plan to us or copy it for later.
An older deck, or not sure what is in it?
Decks from before 2016 vary too much for a tool, and that is where our technicians earn their keep. Find your deck by its serial number, then call us with it: we can usually tell you what is fitted and what the next step is before you bring it in.
The same deck, three different starting points. Read the one closest to yours.
A fifty-year-old LP12 whose owner wants it playing records, not rebuilt. It is not $650 or nothing: a belt or a stylus on its own, the $650 full se...
ReadThe deck we see most from Linn’s twentieth-anniversary years still has a fine arm and a good power supply. What the Karousel, the Kore and the Radi...
ReadA Klimax LP12 built five years ago is still a reference deck. Five parts have arrived since: the Bedrok plinth, the Ekstatik and Kendo cartridges, ...
ReadThe rest of the Library, for when the question is not which part but what it all means.
Call first. Every upgrade on this page is fitted on our bench by Russ Sherrell, our LP12 master, or by John Loranger, and set up again in your home. A call tells us what you have and what you are hoping to hear, and we can usually say on the phone whether the next step is a part or a service.
(503) 222-2599 · sales@pearlaudio.com · Pearl Audio, Portland. A Linn dealer since 2006.
