Nope I just think its better than the SME and without a hint of ponce  The heated bearing arrangement is extremely manly I assure you.

It can be squared very easily. You really should listen to the SME before you say too much more, just in case you decide to stay with the linn.

Nobody is going to lend me two decks at a time at home. Be realistic. Only speakers really require home testing.

You do seem to engage in a lot of pointless sniping - especially as you have heard neither deck. Clearly if I say white you will automatically say black and as such the exchange becomes futile. It does seem silly to restrict yourself to bristish hifi. Do you drive a british car too and want to stay out of the EU? Plenty of others can make hifi that is as good as or better than British.