Interesting thought- Linn &

melm,

No.  You have it exactly right.

N.

Norman, sorry to hear of your issues with your Linn dealer. However, I do not think that the problems you had with the dealer are truly anything to do with the quality of the turntable.
Unfortunately, you probably did not hear what your Lingo'ed Linn could really do...and you certainly have no idea as to what a Radikal D Klimax model can do.
Just FYI, the Valhalla upgrade and the Lingo upgrade are both power supply upgrades. The only real motor upgrade involves the Radikal D.
I would suspect you also were listening to one of the older 'shoe box' Lingo models. The latest Lingo Mk3 is a lot better than the old 'shoe box' model. Nonetheless, all of the upgrades you describe didn't bring your table to anywhere near what it is capable of today.
As to the set-up, if this isn't done correctly, you are leaving behind more than half of what the table can give.
Melm, if you have ever heard a Studer in a good system, I can tell you that it is a pretty big step up over even the best vinyl. IF HW at VPI is trying to get close to the sound of the master tape, good for him, but I know he has a very long way to still go.

"Comparing any TT to the master tape or even the 2nd gen tape on the likes of a Studer isn’t really fair"

This captures one of most common problems in audiophilia in general. Fans of particular designs feel it is unfair to compare their favourite to an objective metric, that is clearly on point, because the outcome of the comparison conflicts with their preferences.  There is little doubt the Linn distorts, and that many people prefer / have a bias towards those distortions, and there is nothing wrong with that since the same can be said digital vs analog (or many wonderful tube designs).  However, it is problematic when people attempt to argue said distortions are more accurate to the original when we have objective, applicable measures that clearly demonstrate otherwise.   

daveyf,

There are many things I liked about my Linn LP12 (and Ariston RD11s).  The build quality was first rate, and it was a beautiful table.  I had read so many positives about it, that I walked into my Linn dealer and purchased what he recommended certain that it would be an improvement over my old Dual 1219.

I know many who love their LP12's, and I have heard some that were much better than mine.  It just seemed to be such a fight to get it to the level that I expected it should have been right out of the box.  

I will make it a point to get to my Linn dealer and listen to the latest mods.  Who knows?