GregWormald Posted August 16, 2022 Share Posted August 16, 2022 If you have tried different belts on your LP12, are any of the "upgrade" belts an actual upgrade? While the Linn belts are roughly twice the price of the upgrades please only consider sound quality. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21stcenturyquaker Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 I don't have an LP12, i have the Ariston rd80sl (belt drive 3 point suspended design a la Linn). The Origin Live belt was well worth the modest cost: an easily noticeable improvement for little money. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKay Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 I had a Kuzma Stabi and at the time the Belt was at least 3x the price of the Origin belt. Needless to say the Origin was as good. My Pink Triangle came from True Point audio in the the UK and Charles uses the Origin belts. It would be worth a try on the Linn turntables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWormald Posted August 24, 2022 Author Share Posted August 24, 2022 Thanks all. I ended up getting in touch with Vince Hamilton (was Once Analog), who did the upgrades to the Linn, and he posted one out for about 25% of the Linn price. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKay Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 8 hours ago, GregWormald said: Thanks all. I ended up getting in touch with Vince Hamilton (was Once Analog), who did the upgrades to the Linn, and he posted one out for about 25% of the Linn price. How does it perform compared to the Linn belt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWormald Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 8 hours ago, PKay said: How does it perform compared to the Linn belt? I don't know as it appears Vince fitted the deck with the same belt when he did the upgrades. The Once Analog belt is very slightly shorter than the stock Linn belt. (Funny: When I placed a record on the t/t after the belt change it was obviously too fast and I wasn't able to adjust it to the correct speed. I took the platter off to return to the old belt and discovered that I'd put the new belt on the top lip of the motor pulley rather than in the centre. OOPS. All is fine now, but boy was I confused/worried for a while.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 If you can track the exact speed of your LP12 and can adjust it then I can't see how a belt upgrade or perhaps downgrade could improve or lesson the performance of your Linn. If your record is spinning at 33.3 rpm or 45 rpm then it's doing what it's supposed to yeah. I have the Mober digital upgrade in mine and I can adjust the speed accordingly for weight variations of the vinyl I'm playing,weight of mat ect, and I'm sorry but I can't see how a belt that spins the platter at the correct speed can be any better than another belt that spins the platter at the same speed surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 2 hours ago, Luc said: If you can track the exact speed of your LP12 and can adjust it then I can't see how a belt upgrade or perhaps downgrade could improve or lessoen the performance of your Linn. If your record is spinning at 33.3 rpm or 45 rpm then it's doing what it's supposed to yeah. The elasticity of the different belts might vary. As a belt drive suffers from the 'caterpillaring' of the belt, as the pulley drives it around ... this effect could be greater or lesser. 2 hours ago, Luc said: I have the Mober digital upgrade in mine What is the Mober 'digital upgrade', Lee? Did you mean "DC 'upgrade' "? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 11 hours ago, andyr said: Did you mean "DC 'upgrade' "? Yeah, the Mober digital upgrade with the a DC motor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evgill Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Purchased one of the ‘blue belts’ via EBay over the break. Arrived on Monday. A lot of discussion on this on PFM and Audioflat with opinion really divided. On first inspection feels a touch ‘sticky’ (mentioned often) Fixes apparently boiling for three minutes lightly coated with talc . Anyway, warmed up the deck, played a few tracks on standard belt to get a feel for the ‘normal’ sound. Switched out to the blue. Hmm, slightly larger soundstage, a little smoother… not much in it at all. Left it running for the day but what was irritating me most was with nothing on and the platter driven it was noisy. Quite noticeable (also discussed on other forums). Today gave it another go. Noise still there. Grrr.. back to normal belt, all good. Asked wife for some Talc… we don’t use it apparently so grabbed some chalk. Ground it to powder and coated the belt. Then wiped it off with a dry soft cloth. Back on deck ..Voila… no noise and now it is obvious that there are significant differences in presentation. . Better?… jury is still out. Everything appears to be larger, more defined. There’s an overall warmth (not smearing or loss of detail) that I’ve not experienced before. I’m going to let it run for the next week two and then have another serious back to back session. Bloody rabbit holes 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWormald Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 Linn used to recommend Mr Sheen for cleaning belts. The idea was that the belt is supposed to slip on start-up to avoid stretching and wear from slip/grip. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evgill Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 14 minutes ago, GregWormald said: Linn used to recommend Mr Sheen for cleaning belts. The idea was that the belt is supposed to slip on start-up to avoid stretching and wear from slip/grip. I remember that. Never used it myself, I just (and still do) give the platter a helping spin as I turn it on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWormald Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 26 minutes ago, evgill said: I remember that. Never used it myself, I just (and still do) give the platter a helping spin as I turn it on I'm too lazy to do that. I'm still using the can of Mr Sheen that I bought sometime around 1980. I used it on a new belt just last week! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SONDEKNZ Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) On 25/8/2022 at 5:14 PM, Luc said: If you can track the exact speed of your LP12 and can adjust it then I can't see how a belt upgrade or perhaps downgrade could improve or lesson the performance of your Linn. If your record is spinning at 33.3 rpm or 45 rpm then it's doing what it's supposed to yeah. I have the Mober digital upgrade in mine and I can adjust the speed accordingly for weight variations of the vinyl I'm playing,weight of mat ect, and I'm sorry but I can't see how a belt that spins the platter at the correct speed can be any better than another belt that spins the platter at the same speed surely? There is a lot more going on with an LP12 belt than meets the eye. With any new belt, the substance used for the belt will impact: Adhesion, potentially making the belt work hard to come off the pulley, introducing minute amounts of stretch and recoil. A bad thing. Slippage, making it hard to maintain a constant level of grip. A bad thing. Motor vibrations reaching the platter. A belt with high silicone content will suppress more motor vibrations. A good thing. Stretch and elasticity, which subtly impacts everything. Too much elasticity is a bad thing. Not enough elasticity is a bad thing. And more besides. More than meets the eye… it’s complex. Edited January 23, 2023 by SONDEKNZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SONDEKNZ Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 4 hours ago, evgill said: I remember that. Never used it myself, I just (and still do) give the platter a helping spin as I turn it on Me too. I always give the old girl a hand to get up and out of her chair… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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