Linn Demonstration
guyincognito
Posts: 129
I had a chance to tag along Friday to a private demonstration conducted by a local Linn dealer that ended up being a very enjoyable experience. I have been aware of the long standing Linn line of turntables but had never had a chance to hear one previously. I was not aware that Linn had a line of speakers and digital streamers (DSM) though, so this was of interest to me.
Our Linn representative, Brian with In-Tone, and his wife Laura are fantastic hosts. They spent more time with us than we deserved, allowing us to play with gear and even A/B test against an Aurilac Altair G1 streamer that one of the people in my group brought. We spent most of the evening listening to a full Kimax system that included a Klimax LP12 turntable with the Radikal outboard motor control and Urika 2 phono stage, the Klimax DSM, and the Klimax 350 powered tower speakers. For those keeping track that's a system with an msrp North of $140,000.
We listened to vinyl on the Linn deck, streamed music from Qobuz and Tidal via Roon (Brian has a Nucleus set up as well) and also used the proprietary Linn app for streaming a little if I recall correctly. While everything sounded very good, I do feel that the room set up was less than ideal and most likely was hindering the system from its full preformance ability. Rather than having a store-front with dedicated listening rooms like a traditional dealer, Brian utilizes the ground floor of a nice townhouse to entertain and demonstrate gear. It was a welcome trade off as we spent the evening discussing music, talking about travel and having a few cocktails. It was much more akin to having an intimate get together with a few friends than your typical steril demonstration. I should note, everyone involved is fully vaccinated.
The Linn system was a different beast than I have ever encountered. The Klimax speakers, for instance, are active speakers with multiple internal amps and servo bass drivers. They had plenty of tight, controlled bass like one would expect from well-executed servo units. Being active speakers that also have internal DACs, they receive a digital signal via network cable from the Linn DSM. The turntable outputs a digital (rather than analog) signal from the internal phono stage, again via network cable, to the DSM. This effectively keeps the signal (regardless of source) in digital the entire time until it is decoded at the speakers.
The Linn DSMs appear to be highly modular units that can be customized to whatever configuration is needed by the end user. It can be set up as a streaming source or a pre. It can be fitted with or without a DAC depending on if you are using some of Linns active speakers or something more traditional. It can be tailored for two channel listening or set up with multi channel outputs and HDMI switching for someone who intends to build a home theater. From what I gathered Linn also has some proprietary room correction software as well that can be implemented with the DSMs to help fix room issues.
While this sharp change from the traditional hi-fi mentality of stacks of individual boxes won't appeal to everyone, I did find it a very clever solution to dealing with multiple use cases. Coupled with a pair of very gracious hosts this made for a very enjoyable evening.
Our Linn representative, Brian with In-Tone, and his wife Laura are fantastic hosts. They spent more time with us than we deserved, allowing us to play with gear and even A/B test against an Aurilac Altair G1 streamer that one of the people in my group brought. We spent most of the evening listening to a full Kimax system that included a Klimax LP12 turntable with the Radikal outboard motor control and Urika 2 phono stage, the Klimax DSM, and the Klimax 350 powered tower speakers. For those keeping track that's a system with an msrp North of $140,000.
We listened to vinyl on the Linn deck, streamed music from Qobuz and Tidal via Roon (Brian has a Nucleus set up as well) and also used the proprietary Linn app for streaming a little if I recall correctly. While everything sounded very good, I do feel that the room set up was less than ideal and most likely was hindering the system from its full preformance ability. Rather than having a store-front with dedicated listening rooms like a traditional dealer, Brian utilizes the ground floor of a nice townhouse to entertain and demonstrate gear. It was a welcome trade off as we spent the evening discussing music, talking about travel and having a few cocktails. It was much more akin to having an intimate get together with a few friends than your typical steril demonstration. I should note, everyone involved is fully vaccinated.
The Linn system was a different beast than I have ever encountered. The Klimax speakers, for instance, are active speakers with multiple internal amps and servo bass drivers. They had plenty of tight, controlled bass like one would expect from well-executed servo units. Being active speakers that also have internal DACs, they receive a digital signal via network cable from the Linn DSM. The turntable outputs a digital (rather than analog) signal from the internal phono stage, again via network cable, to the DSM. This effectively keeps the signal (regardless of source) in digital the entire time until it is decoded at the speakers.
The Linn DSMs appear to be highly modular units that can be customized to whatever configuration is needed by the end user. It can be set up as a streaming source or a pre. It can be fitted with or without a DAC depending on if you are using some of Linns active speakers or something more traditional. It can be tailored for two channel listening or set up with multi channel outputs and HDMI switching for someone who intends to build a home theater. From what I gathered Linn also has some proprietary room correction software as well that can be implemented with the DSMs to help fix room issues.
While this sharp change from the traditional hi-fi mentality of stacks of individual boxes won't appeal to everyone, I did find it a very clever solution to dealing with multiple use cases. Coupled with a pair of very gracious hosts this made for a very enjoyable evening.
Rega Planar 8, Apheta 3 MC , Aria mk2 Phono
Aurender n100h, Benchmark DAC2 HGC
Arcam SR250, Parasound JC5
Revel F208, SVS SB-4000
Aurender n100h, Benchmark DAC2 HGC
Arcam SR250, Parasound JC5
Revel F208, SVS SB-4000
Comments
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Thanks for sharing your experience. I can see where that set up is not ideal.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Wait.
This is at the Linn reps house? Why is the set up like that?Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
A 140,000 system, set up in a dining room?!?--Gary--
Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out. -
This is the ground floor of a town house used to host clients. He had four different systems placed throughout. I got the impression it may not be a primary residence buy I'm not 100% on that.
Also, the black box sitting on top of the Linn DSM is the Aurilac we brought over. That exposed wiring and power cord on the ground was temporary to facilitate the Aurilac.Rega Planar 8, Apheta 3 MC , Aria mk2 Phono
Aurender n100h, Benchmark DAC2 HGC
Arcam SR250, Parasound JC5
Revel F208, SVS SB-4000
