Today music lovers are finding more and more of their friends have returned to a beloved 1960s listening form: spinning vinyl. Hearing a great album on vinyl for the first time is like cannonballing into a frigid pool of water after a dusty all-day trudge. Analog has a shocking vibrancy, a sudden clarity that’s absent from digital. You’ll think, “Holy shit, Carlos Santana really was so high on acid at Woodstock that he thought his guitar was a giant snake!” There are other perks. You get to own a music collection that can actually be sorted by hand; you can show off cool album cover gimmicks like a well-endowed jean wearer whose fly can be zipped and unzipped. You’re pessimistic if you haven’t experienced it yet. Trust us: it’s a great thing.
Unfortunately, buying a turntable is daunting. In this age of iTunes and MP3s, the balance of our knowledge has shifted firmly away from analog and toward digital. The segment also tends to idolize incredibly expensive hi-fi gear, which is all well and good, except that few newcomers or even seasoned vinyl listeners can afford the tippity top of the quality pyramid. Truth is, for the price of an iPod you can be the proud owner of a turntable with great sound and the chops to convey every form of jammery until you yourself are a vinyl elitist aficionado.
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Linn Majik LP12
Because a record player’s sound depends so heavily on the needle running through the grooves of the record, vibration is enemy number one. It’s the attention to the little things, then, that makes Linn’s Majik LP12 the best turntable in its price range. The Majik is actually a more accessible version of the absolutely iconic LP12; Linn, a company that’s been in the business of making audiophiles lose their minds for over 35 years, has done an incredible job of trimming the top-tier standard in the right places without turning the Majik into a poseur table. The Majik has top-notch components across the board; tortured over is a good way to describe its construction and design. Its belt-drive power supply has been precision-machined for accuracy and speed, ensuring the heartbeat of the player is steady (“wow” and “flutter” along with “speed error” are some of the prime ways to ruin a vinyl listening experience). A solid platter foundation in the form of a heavy-gauge stainless steel plate and subchassis further reduce interference from vibration. Linn designed the cartridge, which goes for just south of $500 on its own; the top-of-the-line carbon fiber tonearm is made by Pro-Ject, which is telling — more on that soon.
All of these bits are highly adjustable and can be upgraded easily, things hi-fi nerds preen about. Lest we forget amid this sea of tech specs, the Majik LP12 is gorgeous, surrounded by a plinth of black ash, american cherry, rosenut, maple and walnut. Show it to your woodworking father who still has boxes of dusty records mummifying in the basement and he just might have a heart attack.