Hi all. I hooked up my Linn Sondek LP12 for the first time tonight and
within a few seconds, to my horror, I noticed that it was spinning
records too slow. I'm in the US, but the LP12 I own (which I purchased
used) is marked as a 110V one, and the sticker on the back says that it
should be able to handle 50-60Hz.

It has the Valhalla power supply and the Cirkus motor upgrade.
Visually, everything appears to be in perfect condition, and I couldn't
tell that it was spinning too slowly until I put an LP on. It's like
it's playing a 33 at 28rpm (by my estimate).

Needless to say, I'm hoping that there's something simple I've
overlooked. I do realize that the LP12 is finicky... . Hopefully
someone here has encountered this problem before.

Not sure if this is your problem but I got my Thorens turntable
(similar design to the Linn) out after many years of storage. It also
played slow. However, after cleaning the belt, platter and spindle, and
oiling the bearing it then played at the correct speed. The start up
time was also about halved. The belt was old and stretched (still is)
and this type of design tries to use the minimum tension necessary to
do the job. It appears that all the accumulated gunge plus the stretch
was sufficient for the belt not to grip properly on the spindle at a
guess.

The Valhalla board sets the motor speed, not the mains input voltage or
frequency, as basically it generates its own crystal oscillator frequency
stable voltage to run the motor. Motors rarely run slow, so it should be
either a slipping belt or a faulty Valhalla board in theory as it could
still run slow if the Valhalla output stage was faulty giving a low output
voltage. Does anything look cooked on the board? My bet is the belt.


"Bruce C. Miller" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all. I hooked up my Linn Sondek LP12 for the first time tonight and
within a few seconds, to my horror, I noticed that it was spinning
records too slow. I'm in the US, but the LP12 I own (which I purchased
used) is marked as a 110V one, and the sticker on the back says that it
should be able to handle 50-60Hz.

It has the Valhalla power supply and the Cirkus motor upgrade.
Visually, everything appears to be in perfect condition, and I couldn't
tell that it was spinning too slowly until I put an LP on. It's like
it's playing a 33 at 28rpm (by my estimate).

Needless to say, I'm hoping that there's something simple I've
overlooked. I do realize that the LP12 is finicky... . Hopefully
someone here has encountered this problem before.

SteveB wrote:
The Valhalla board sets the motor speed, not the mains input voltage or
frequency, as basically it generates its own crystal oscillator frequency
stable voltage to run the motor. Motors rarely run slow, so it should be
either a slipping belt or a faulty Valhalla board in theory as it could
still run slow if the Valhalla output stage was faulty giving a low output
voltage. Does anything look cooked on the board? My bet is the belt.

I picked up another belt. If I look at the new and old belt side by
side, they look EXACTLY the same. However, the new belt now plays at
the proper speed. :\ Must have a few extra molecules or something.

Thanks for the suggestions