Linn Sondek LP12-50

Linn Sondek LP12-50

Two hundred and fifty. That is the total number of Linn Sondek LP12-50 turntables that will ever exist — each one individually numbered, each one the product of a collaboration between Linn and Sir Jony Ive's LoveFrom creative collective, and each one built around a plinth technology that did not exist before this edition was conceived. The LP12-50 is not a commemorative reissue with cosmetic additions. It is a genuinely new object: a limited edition that uses the fiftieth anniversary of the Sondek LP12 as the occasion to push the engineering of the platform into territory it has not previously occupied.

Bedrok — A New Material, Not a New Finish

The LP12-50 is the first turntable to use Linn's Bedrok plinth technology. Bedrok is not a wood veneer, a lacquer, or a finish applied to an existing plinth structure — it is an entirely new material, formed by placing orthogonal layers of beech under extreme pressure until they consolidate into something that behaves quite differently from the wood it began as. The result is a plinth that is solid, massive, and characterised by negligible resonance — properties that matter in a turntable plinth because any energy the plinth absorbs and re-radiates returns to the bearing and arm as noise. A plinth that does not ring does not add to the signal. Bedrok is that plinth.

The material is now available separately as the Linn Bedrok Plinth for owners upgrading existing LP12 builds — but the LP12-50 is where Bedrok was first deployed, and where it exists in the context of a complete, resolved object rather than as a component upgrade.

LoveFrom — Design as Engineering

Sir Jony Ive and the LoveFrom collective are responsible for the LP12-50's power and speed control button and its hinges. These are precision-machined components — not decorative additions but functional parts of the turntable's interface, designed with what Linn describes as attention to the quality and integrity of the original product. The interaction they provide is, in Linn's own account, delightful and precise. That is an unusual word to use in a technical document, and its appearance there is deliberate: the LP12-50 was designed to be handled as well as heard.

Every LP12-50 carries an embossed aluminium plaque with its individual edition number — the physical record of where this particular turntable sits within the 250 that exist.

An Object of Consequence

The LP12-50 is a turntable for someone who understands what the Sondek LP12 is — its history, its upgrade architecture, its position in the engineering of analogue audio — and wants the version of it that marks the moment when Linn chose to work with one of the most significant industrial designers of the last half century to make something that goes beyond what either party could have produced alone. It sits above the Linn Klimax LP12 Turntable in the range — a reference point for a reference point.

For those building towards, or already at, the highest levels of LP12 performance, the Linn Klimax System Hub and Linn Exaktbox Sub represent the system-level components with which the LP12-50's capabilities are most fully realised.

Who Is It For?

The LP12-50 is for the collector and the listener in equal measure — someone for whom 250 units worldwide, individual numbering, and a collaboration with LoveFrom are not marketing details but the correct reasons to own this particular object rather than any other. It is not a turntable for someone new to the LP12 ecosystem; it is for someone who already knows what the platform can do and wants the version of it that will not be made again.

Buying from Martins Hi-Fi

Martins Hi-Fi has been in Norwich since 1968. Elizabeth Gould runs the business today, and we stock only brands we have heard properly and stand behind.

The LP12-50 is a significant purchase and one we are glad to discuss in detail — including how it fits within a wider Linn system and what supporting components will allow it to perform at the level it was designed for. Speak to us before you commit; this is exactly the kind of conversation we are here to have.

When you get in touch, you'll be speaking with Dave and Chris — experienced specialists who can advise on this product and your whole system.

Contact us at info@martinshifi.co.uk, call 01603 627010, or WhatsApp on 07554 687137. You can read more about how we work on our Why Martins Hi-Fi page. We are at 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY.