More Mober For Linn Sondek LP12

Mober sub-platter for Linn LP12 tur table, though Cirkus compatible, I much prefer the sound when mated to it's intended partner, the Mober bearing.

In my last story about the Mober sub platter, as started with my desire for the latest Linn Karousel bearing upgrade, but the prohibitive pricing of Linn lead me to looking else where. Along came the Mober items purchased from Edmund Chan who makes these Mober products & ships out of Hong Kong. 

Doing the Mober bearing upgrade, much like the Karuosel, requires the Vahalla or Hercules power supply board to be moved out of the turn table, in to a separate external box. That means my Hercules II Gold power supply board will need a box to be housed in. Fear not, Mober has a solution in the form of a Mose kit!

In the process of reading up on the Karousel vs Mober bearing, it would seem to me that Edmund had started putting the Mober bearing in to the market 2 years ahead of Linn! However, the emergence of Karuosel has made Mober to introduce an improved version with collar mount option, compared to the 3 point mount of the previous design, as in Linn's Cirkus bearing. Competition does indeed spark innovation in this case!

Now let us go through the build pictorial:

Mober(left) bearing vs Linn Cirkus(right). Notice how much bigger the Mober bearing is at the bottom? The Mober bearing also offers collar mount, which I feel in much better than 3 point mounting, as the stress points are even out with collar mount.

The bridge comparison, left is the Mober supplied unit which came as part of the bearing package. Compared to the Linn supplied unit, notice the bearing thru hole in the center, which is much bigger diameter with the Mober unit. Also note the heavier steel gauge used, and that improved wire hold down design, which is far more rigid compared to Linn's fragile looking P-clip, not shown here.   

On the back is similar story, the Mober parts exudes quality build that Linn can only dream about!

The Mose casing to house my Hercules II Gold power supply board. This 2U design casing is aluminum extruded and finished in satin black for an overall high quality look & feel.

The back panel of the Mose box, a multi pin socket provides easy & removable wiring option from the turn table.

Even the IEC socket provided with the Mose is a gold plated audiophile grade item, Mober has put in much thought to his products!

Inside the Mose box is an added AC board for LED indicator at face plate, and rerouting all Hercules II Gold cabling requirements to the multi pin socket.

The Mose box with the Hercules II Gold power supply board fitted.

The completed Mose box, with a blue indicator at front face plate, when powered up.

Fitting of Mober bearing commence! The Mober bearing is first collar mounted on to the Linn Kore sub-chassis. This is followed by the motor & 33 & 45 rpm switch on the top plate.

M for Mober!

The wire hold down clamp as seen here in white is much easier to work with, compared to Linn's P-clip design. Just lift the clamp high enough to slip the cables through, then tighten that hex key.

The finished project, with Mober's L shaped power supply board to accommodate the much bigger bearing. the multi pin cable from Mose box shown earlier is attached to this L-shaped PS board. Also seen here with tone arm cable & multi pin cable being clamped down respectively. 

An older picture for comparison, with Linn's Vahalla board in place with Circkus bearing. The Hercules II Gold board is basically a 2 speed version of the Vahalla!

And lastly the whole turn table assembly sits on the Linn Trampolin II

The finished project, with the newly Oak finished plinth. This project is like a total rebuild, and since I am at it, I also swapped the Koetsu Black cartridge to serve on the Linn LP12 turn table. 

The Linn LP12(top tier) with the Mose kit & Marantz PH-1 phono stage below deck, sitting on my Spyder rack.

The sound of the finished project is excellent from the first needle drop! The initial sound was fast and exciting, with little to no back ground noise. LP surface noise is largely reduced as well. The bass is now truly powerful and tight! The Linn finally has the bass power to rival my Kuzma turn table. No more  Linn's flabby, "mong cha-cha" bass of the old. The Mober bearing package, with it's sub platter really brings the Linn LP12 detail retrieval ability & clarity to a whole new level. The good part is Linn's much fabled mid-bass is now clean, and doesn't intrude and cloud the male vocals anymore. Treble is much extended, airy and clear like a breath of fresh air! The noise level after the Mober bearing & Mose kit installed is near zero or un-audible now. After a few days, as the 3 springs that suspends the Linn settles down, the treble begins to soften a touch, and some semblance of the Linn LP12 sound character re-emerges, but just enough to remind you that this is still a Linn LP 12 after all.

I feel the Mober kits offer very high value for money in each & every way one looks at it. The Mober kits are well made, with good materials, high quality finishing and much design details that only someone with an intimate knowledge of the Linn LP12 can think of. Best of all, the Mober kits are much, much more affordable than the Scotland made stuff, yet suffers no sound penalty or build quality. I think the Mober kits may somewhat sound a little different if compared to using all Linn parts catalog, but on the whole, Edmund Chan is a person who understands the Linn's engineering philosophy well, and doesn't stray too far from where the apple tree is. I now have much respect and high regards for the Mober kits. If you have a Linn LP12 turn table at whatever vintage, do give the Mober kits a go!

Given today's Linn aftermarket diversity, and Linn's endless catalog of up grade parts, I can tell you there no 2 Linn LP12 in the world that is exactly same anymore, after leaving the showroom! A celebration of diversity I guess.....

Facelift, Wood Plinth Refinishing For Linn Sondek LP12

My original Linn LP12 plinth in Black Ash, total strip down. This is not the first time I've done this!

Choosing my stain option, which I choose a rich shade of red laquer

 

The finished result! Beautiful......

From another angle at Ricky's workshop

This project was almost 6 months in the making. I had planned to refinish my Linn LP12 wood plinth, as I was kinda bored with the original Black Ash color scheme.

And since I am stripping everything down to do the refinishing of the plinth, I might as well do some upgrades! At the time, I was keen to get Linn's latest Karousel bearing design, but was horrified upon hearing the cost. Fear not, it's Mober to the rescue and I ended buying not only Mober's bearing design, but also the matching inner platter & out board PSU upgrade kit. All those parts came just a day before the MCO lock down in May, and Ricky's furniture workshop had to close as a result.

Ricky's workshop was allowed to resume operations by 3rd October and he went in to work on my Linn LP12 plinth straight away. After more than a week, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the result of the refinished work, as in the pictures above!

Ricky also does speaker cabinet repairs or any other hifi wooden bits refinishing as well. He is well known amongst those classic Thorens & Garrard turntable folks for supplying beautiful custom plinths. He is also a classic hifi & LP collector. So if you're reading this, that means Ricky shares your passion for good sound!

Ricky can be contacted at 019-3379357, should you require his services.  

Something New For Something Old..........

Now, what's this?

This project has been in the making since April, as all the parts have become available since May but no progress until now. Can you guess what is this item featured on the picture?

Art frame? Or something else?

If the keen eyed amongst you already know, post your answer in the comment section please.

Stay tune for updates on this project as it will start moving soon!

 

Mighty Mober For My Linn Sondek LP12, Mober SSP 12 Sub Platter

Julien, my friendly Linn LP12 kaki, who is also my hifi COP, a.k.a. Chief Of Poison, introduced me to the world of Mober, an after market parts vendor for the Linn LP12. In fact, Mober's parts catalog is so complete, that you can actually choose to build a whole LP12 out of Mober parts list! However be warned that if you do that, I suspect the actual end product, an LP12 look a like may not sound much a like the Linn version either.........

Also when reading in to Mober's story, I found that Edmund Chan, the Mober man is also the man behind Hercules PS by Stamford Audio, which I use to repleced the Linn Vahalla PS and still loved till date. That already gave me a healthy dose of confidence on Mober's stuff. At one point, Mober was so controversial in the Linn forums, because there were just as many pro Mober fans vs Linn purist, which resulted in a war on almost every topic posted. It got so bad that Linn decided to shut down the forum totally. Edmund and his henchmen were thrown out and denied membership, forever! Yeah, I know how up tight those Linn purist can be!

As I discussed with Julien, my buddy(who denies his poisoning abilities) about the Linn Karousel bearing option, that everyone is hot over heels about, but the high cost factor remained in my doubt and so in one brilliant stroke, Julien suggested I look in to the Mober alternative. Mober's store is on Ebay and he ships out of Hong Kong. After going thru Mober's Ebay store, I ended up not only with Mober's bearing, but also an Mober SSP12(which is Mober's sub plater) and also Mose+ out board casing kit for my Hercules II Gold PS board. You see, before Linn's Karousel, Mober was already selling his bearing of a similar design. And like the Karousel, Mober's bearing mount is much bigger, so much of the original LP12 inner pieces will either have to be changed or modified! The inner brace bar which holds the Cirkus bearing will need to have the bearing fitting hole enlarged, but Mober sent me a replacement to fit with his bearing instead. The Hercules II Gold PS board won't fit either, so it will be moved outboard with the Mose+ casing kit! 

Now you can see, why I was so hesitant in considering the Karousel bearing! With so much changes, the cost was just adding up big time, if I had stuck to the Linn parts bin! With Mober's more reasonable pricing, that move was a whole lot more palatable, financially. Actually, if you scour the www carefully by searching for Linn LP12 parts, you'll find much after market bit's & pieces for your Linn, some very well designed, others down right wacky & possibly rather tweaky by looks. I am just saying this, that in the Linn LP12 universe, there exist a whole lot of other options other than the original. 

Mober box arrived via FedEx

Inside the Mober box

I ordered all the stuff as mentioned above, made my payment and in about 10 days or so, the Mober box arrived by FedEx. As you can see, the box is very well packed. The first item I can easily play with is the Mober SSP12 sub platter, which does not require me to disassemble the turn table just yet. All the other parts will have to wait until the current MCO to finish, when we come out of the lockdown, as I would like to refinish my black ash plinth too, while at it. So will have to wait until my buddy's furniture workshop re-opens for business.

Mober recommends that when using his bearing, to pair with the SSP12 sub platter for best results, however, the Linn Cirkus LP12 sub platter can still be used. Since the SSP12 sub platter is compatible with the existing Cirkus bearing, it will be an easy swap in. 

The difference the Mober SSP12 and the Cirkus sub platter is obvious. Mober's have a pale gold coating in the center of the top spindle. Where it's not so obvious is where the biggest difference lies, at the tip of the bearing shaft! Linn's patented bearing shaft tip is rounded off versus Mober's which is bearing fused, much like those old Thorens sub platter design from the late 50's and early 60's. Otherwise, nearly all other design aspects of both the sub platter looks identical, save for that matt aluminum finishing on the Linn, and shiny surface of the Mober. So how does that Mober sub platter sound comparatively to the Linn?

From left: Linn sub platter, then the shinny Mober sub platter on the right 

Linn sub platter, look at the rounded tip of the bearing shaft 

Mober SSP12, with the bearing fused at the tip as the focused point of the bearing shaft

The swap over was relatively easy, I pulled the Linn sub platter out from the turn table, wipe clean the shaft from the bearing oil with a piece of tissue, then re-lube the bearing and proceed to drop in the Mober sub platter. Allow some time, about 10-15 minutes to let the bearing shaft sink in by gravity, best not to use force. Once the sub platter sits in nicely, time to fit the outer platter on, and record matt, now your're ready to spin LPs!

From the very first moment the LP started spinning again, I heard a distinct, sharp high mid frequency range poking out of the overall frequency spectrum. While this makes vocals pop out and stabilizes imaging better, I much preferred Linn's overall top to bottom frequency coherence and evenness. I also note that the Mober sub platter is subjectively quieter in the musical background too. Otherwise, all other sound quality character remains largely un-changed. The bass is still solidly filled up and gutsy, the mid range comes with the peak as mentioned, and treble remains airy & refined. 

Over a few weeks, that mid range peak started to be reduced to almost un-detectable, except with certain LPs or songs, I could still hear it. That's the problem with audio, once you've heard it, it's very difficult to unhear it. From time to time or song to song that peak high mid just sticks out enough to remind you about the Mober! I actually find this type of sonic character very much like sitting one's hifi equipment on 3 pieces of downward pointer footings, but the Mober being a whole lot more discreet. One of the main reasons I never use those tipsy downward pointing footers on my hifi equipment. 

I am hoping that once I pair this sub platter to the Mober bearing, this anomaly would disappear totally for a perfect & coherent match. I also suspect that with the neutrality of the Benx Micro LP cartridge also pushed the Mober towards this slight peak in the high mids, and I suspect my other cartridge the warmer sounding Koetsu Black which is more sympathetic, may be a better match with the Mober items.  Let's see......

The Linn sub platter just before removal

The well sit in Mober SSP12 after 15 minutes, fits nicely too

With that being said, I believe that Mober sub platter & bearing kit is best used as a set. The Mober SSP12 when used with an existing Cirkus based Linn LP12 turntable, the compatibility may rest on a few other items too, such as cartridge, cable & turn table set up. That makes this so called up grade a small gamble, and YMMV is all I can tell you at this point. Well, at least till I get all the other Mober items in to my Linn Sondek LP12. Not sure when that is possible in the current pandemic & lockdown situation........................... 

My Linn Sondek LP12 is back in action again. For Linn purist, in which this photo I shared on Linn FB group, the LP clamp used here is a crime punishable by crucifixion! For me, as long as it's floating my boat, who cares?

 

Scratching That Itch! My Own Linn Sondek LP12

While restoring my buddy's Linn Sondek LP12, I also caught the bug and soon the pandemic ensued! No, no, no, not the COVID-19 type pandemic, but Linn LP12 high fever type........

I looked at local classifieds and found this lovely example in Black Ash finished plinth, circa spec of pre Y2K. It came with Cirkus bearing set & Ittok LVII tonearm. It was well looked after by an elderly gentleman who had too many turntables to looks after, and this was his choice to give up.

I got home and quickly mounted my Benz Micro LP cartridge again on the Linn. If you can recall, this very same cartridge was mounted on my 1st Linn LP12 a few years back. I loved the sound of this LP12/Benz combo very much.

Like many others, I just couldn't resist giving my Linn LP12 a few updates:

My Linn LP12 pre-update!

As the Linn LP12 is a modular designed for future up-gradeability in mind, the whole turn table can be taken apart and new parts substituted, DIY style, with some knowledge.  

First item on my mind was the bottom cover, which was kinda like an asbestos board, I never liked that piece since my first Linn, and would rather go commando if I have to. Since then, I have found the Linn option called Trampolin 2, and many other after market options on the internet. They all give different sonic results for sure, but I'd just stick with the Trampolin 2 option. Verdict, YMMV depending on the inteface with your turn table or hifi rack surface. The Trampolin 2 offers last mile leveling possibilities and stray energy absorption with it's soft rubber compound foot.

The next item is trickier as there are 3 performance levels to choose from Linn and many other un-specified performance options for after market! I would stick to Linn options on this project. First up is the Keel sub chassis. The Keel sub chassis is the most rigid, being machined from a single piece aluminum. There are no joints here.

The mid range performance sub chassis is called Kore. See the difference in under belly construction between this Kore and the Keel above? There's much bonding and joints compared to the one piece Keel.

The Keel from the top visible view, note that even the tone arm collar comes machined aluminum as part of the construction.

The Kore from the top visible view looks more similar in construction to Majik below, but the included arm board is also aluminum bonded on to the main sub chassis. Still very rigid, but losses the integrated tone arm collar.  

The Majik sub chassis is today's entry level performance component for the Linn LP12. Entry level for sure, but compared to the those pre Majik sub chassis, it is very much improved in all areas. This Majik spec sub chassis still requires a wooded arm board to be mounted by 3 tiny screws, but now also subjected to tome arm collar clamping for much more rigidity. For those who loves that old school mid range coloration, the Majik still offers some of those vis it's clamped wooden arm board construction. The tonal quality becomes more neutral and less colored as one moves up the sub chassis game.

 

I would say dare say that if the Keel is to be taken as reference as 100% in sound performance, then the Kore is 80% of the Keel, and the Majik is 80% of the Kore. The pre Majik sub chassis is probably less than 60% of the Majik. So of all the up grades to the Linn LP12, the Majik sub chassis makes the best bang for buck, followed by the Kore. The Keel is what I would only do if going for the Klimax spec performance. On a personal note, I do find the Linn LP12 Klimax spec sounding much closer to digital type of sound reproduction. There's very little analog feel to it. To retain more analog feel, I would only advise up grades along the Akurate spec only. My choice? The Kore!

I also took the opportunity to upgrade the Linn Valhalla PS board to the 2 speed Hercules Gold board. I've always found the Hercules solution offered by Stamford Audio to be great value for money and offered excellent overall performance. While at it, I also replaced the aging belt drive.

The final result may look like the same turn table, as most of the up grades are hidden under the surface. The sound quality is anything but the same. From the first track, it was immediately apparent that bass was cleaner, leaner, but stronger, and much better defined. Gone is that mushy bass feeling, and now, note to note bass transfer is very audible and note all lumped in to one continuous mush as before. Clarity is much improved, as that general veiling is now gone. The upgraded Linn LP12 now have the balls and guts to take on my other turn table, the full optioned Kuzma Stabi S. The Linn now also have the speed and rhythm to play rock as it should.   

Having said that, those who loved that sweet mid range coloration of the old Linn LP12 may not feel so much at home now. With improved clarity & transparency, the LP12 also lost quite a fair bit of the warm golden mid range that made it so endearing. There's still a little left in the Kore sub chassis equipped LP12, just enough to give a tinge of that warm sweetness to make it livable. That's where the Keel equipped Klimax spec falls short on. Call it a double edge sword, but the Kore sub chassis balances this fine line tightly. Also love the lower surface noise that comes with the Kore sub chassis.

While the upgrade parts are not cheap, but I feel they do bring the value to an aging Linn LP12 by keeping the sound up to date and better spec. There's a lot of reverse engineering effort that is un-spoken in these up grade products. Just barely a month or so after completing this project, Linn announced a  new bearing kit called Karousel, which promises to bring down what ever the noise floor left from the Cirkus bearing. Many Linn buddies reported huge..... sonic improvements with this upgrade. I am still contemplating about this new option, and in the mean time, I'll enjoy my upgrade Linn LP12 to it's fullest.

Looks very much the same, but the sound is way better than ever!

Restoring Another Linn Sondek LP12, Rebuild Part 2

Now, after waiting almost a year for all the parts required to return post strip down, the Linn LP12 rebuilding can start again. The project was supposed to be a simple rebuild re-using as much original parts as possible, with the arm being plan for a Linn Basik. 

However, a year is a pretty long time, and that audiophile question "what if I could make it better?" surfaced, and my buddy started looking at more ambitious options, and he was lucky to have found someone who was also upgrading, and hence all the Linn LP12 Majik hand me down parts you see here!

Now the pictorial building guide can start:

The re-furbished plinth looks really nice in it's original walnut color, also note the 2 pcs Linn Majik sub chassis & armboard, c/w Cirkus bearing pre mounted. I must say the new Majik sub chassis offers the most sonic value for $$$ of the 3 sub chassis options now available. There's also the Kore & the Keel, both one piece in construction, but different build.  

Next up, inserting the rubber grommet & spring set on to the Majik sub chassis, and also the long top plate mounting screws that also functions to hold the sub chassis springs & rubber grommet which in turn, holds the sub chassis in place. At this point, the new 50Hz A/C motor is mounted as well.

View of the top plate from the other side. See the motor pulley standing up right?

And it all comes together, first the top plate & motor assembly, then the Majik sub chassis assembly, secured with 3 springs & rubber grommet assembly, and lastly the cross brace which secures the top plate, and hold everything together. ON/OFF switch for the Valhalla PS board also snapped in place on the left corner of the top plate.

The view from the other side.

Valhalla PS board clips attached and the original(correct size) Linn LP12 rubber feet mounted at the four corners.

This is where the build gets delicate! wiring the motor & the power cord to the refurbished Valhalla PS board. Also at this point securing the Majik tonearm cable route with a P-Clip(new) to ensure it does not interfere with spring travel nearby, so as to obtain a suspension good bounce, as they say! I must say the Majik parts are all much higher quality compared to those that came before it. That tonearm cable is looks really good too. 

Next is mounting the tonearm collar to get ready to receive the CC9 based arm sourced from Project. The tonearm collar is not mounted like that. The cut out portion needs to be front facing!

And that tonearm goes sliding in nicely, with 2 allen keys at the back of the collar for height adjustment and locking it in place there after. Love the carbon trim finish on the CC9 Project arm.

The whole tonearm with carbon trim going all the way to head shell for cartridge mount. One has to be very careful when doing cartridge mount, and should not over tighten the cartridge screws, or it might just crack the carbon finish on the head shell. 

Next, lubricating the Cirkus bearing with Linn supplied oil, or any motor oil for that matter, attaching the inner platter, and rubber belt drive to motor & platter. 

Put on the outer platter, look at the mirror like polished sides!

Last step, put on the original Linn LP12 felt mat, and cartridge mounted. My buddy choose a Sumiko Blue Point High Output MC cartridge for this re-build 

The final tuning step, the spring bounce is adjusted on my audio rig. The platter should be floating about 3-4mm above the top plate with a free and un-interrupted, and even bounce of 3-4 cycles to be considered right.

Next is cartridge alignment, as the above picture, I first adjust the cartridge fore/aft placing using the single protractor starting point, then here in this picture, I use the 2 protractor points to align the cartridge to make sure it's as balanced in the L-R channels as the 9inch tonearm sweeps across the LP playing surface, from 1st track on the outer edge of the platter in to the center.  

Lastly, I used an old school tracking weight checker to check for 2 grams tracking force. Note the lump of modelling clay place on top the head shell? This is due to at the original time of planning, my buddy bought the Sumiko Blue Point cartridge to fit a Linn Basik arm which he had. The Sumiko cartridge being at 6.3 grams in weight was the perfect fit for the low compliance arm of Linn Basik. However along the way, the tonearm favored was the Linn Majik CC9 which is a medium compliance arm, which requires cartridge's to start from 8 grams onwards! So I neede to improvise to make things work for now. The lump of modelling clay is exactly 4 grams, giving the cartridge just enough tracking force of 2 grams! 

Lastly, here's video of the completed re-build of Linn Sondek LP12. I loved the sound of the Sumiko Blue Point cartridge. It's slightly warn, with sweet highs and tight lows. The mid range has a slight well honeyed, golden tone to it, which makes it a delight to listen to. Too bad about the not matching in compliance with the tonearm. I feel the Majik sub chassis is also a big step up from the old school Linn sub chassis from the 80's & 90's. 

Sorry about the mono sound recording of the video. Do not adjust your PC speakers!

I hope my buddy enjoys listening to this Linn Sondek LP12, as much as I have enjoyed refurbishing it!