Hi Theo,
I'm one of many who did make the change from LP12 to unsuspended T/T (I chose the Raven One after listening to a fair number of them and getting nowhere). Part of the problem may be that if one is a longstanding LP12 user then the ear becomes conditioned to that presentation. So in my case I ended up, perhaps subconsciously, looking for something "similar but better". Such a requirement is paradoxical because no mass damped unsuspended T/T has any commonality with a Linn at all.
It's worth mentioning that not all the turntables you listed are unsuspended (e.g. the Avid's suspension pods. The Clearaudio probably uses the Air-Ceramic bearing which offers an intrinsic suspension effect - something that's always worried me with the Clearaudio designs because it doesn't constitute a rigid closed loop. That's the old Linn mindset in action! It is something that never gets fully purged. However, this said, I've never heard a bad performance from the Master Ref so it shows that a well-implemented and optimised design can work despite the doubts.)
If it were me I'd consider going higher up the food chain and look at the Acutus but I realise then we are talking serious $$$. Not easy to acquire S/H unless someone fancies a change of colour! (e.g. from chrome to gold!)
I'd argue that the Acutus would probably be much more to your liking as it really does share a generic bond but is far superior.
There may be many satisfied users of these tables out there but overall, I'm not convinced any of these offer a big enough improvement - in terms of musical experience - over what you're already using. If you did choose one of them, I'd be disinclined to dispense with the Ekos unless it turned out to be a poor marriage. Hope this proves helpful.
Kind regards...
I'm one of many who did make the change from LP12 to unsuspended T/T (I chose the Raven One after listening to a fair number of them and getting nowhere). Part of the problem may be that if one is a longstanding LP12 user then the ear becomes conditioned to that presentation. So in my case I ended up, perhaps subconsciously, looking for something "similar but better". Such a requirement is paradoxical because no mass damped unsuspended T/T has any commonality with a Linn at all.
It's worth mentioning that not all the turntables you listed are unsuspended (e.g. the Avid's suspension pods. The Clearaudio probably uses the Air-Ceramic bearing which offers an intrinsic suspension effect - something that's always worried me with the Clearaudio designs because it doesn't constitute a rigid closed loop. That's the old Linn mindset in action! It is something that never gets fully purged. However, this said, I've never heard a bad performance from the Master Ref so it shows that a well-implemented and optimised design can work despite the doubts.)
If it were me I'd consider going higher up the food chain and look at the Acutus but I realise then we are talking serious $$$. Not easy to acquire S/H unless someone fancies a change of colour! (e.g. from chrome to gold!)
I'd argue that the Acutus would probably be much more to your liking as it really does share a generic bond but is far superior.
There may be many satisfied users of these tables out there but overall, I'm not convinced any of these offer a big enough improvement - in terms of musical experience - over what you're already using. If you did choose one of them, I'd be disinclined to dispense with the Ekos unless it turned out to be a poor marriage. Hope this proves helpful.
Kind regards...