Before I bought my first system it took me a few months to test tons of NADs, Marantzes, Arcams, Denons, etc. - still on the entry level.
Then suddenly I was introduced to LINN products by a helpful dealer and I chose Classik with Ninka. Actually I spent a lot of time on comparing Ninka to Katan because I needed some time to get used to the Ninka s price however I got also fascinated by the beauty of the sound produced by small Katans.
I lived with Classik and Ninkas for almost two years.
In the meantime LINN introduced so many fantastic new products: Unidisks, Exotik, Kisto, Kinos, Akurate, and now Artikulat. From this list I have chosen actually only one, Unidisk SC. I added AV5125 and thats it.
AV5125 enabled me to run my Ninkas AKTIVely what just moved my system onto a much higher level. AKTIV is simply fantastic. Its like squezing much better sound from the same speakers.
My LCD TV from NAD (only for Scandinavia!) is simply fantastic. I still cannot find better LCD on the market.
Finally I also bought a TASCAM cassette deck which I like very much.
My room is very small and it will not change in the near future. I experimented a lot with different speakers/furniture setup and this seems to be the best solution.
In general I agree with the idea of reproducing every detail present in a recording in the most neutral way. I dont want music to be beautified or made warmer, softer, harder, drier, etc. I only want to get what is there on the disc. Thats why I like LINN.
UNIDISK SC player is a complete pitch accurate high fidelity AV source and control component. Featuring Linns SILVER DISK ENGINE universal disc playing technology, the UNIDISK SC player is designed to facilitate access to all the new high-definition music and movie formats and deliver high-quality multi-channel control and playback.
Linn AV 5125
The AV 5125 is designed to provide a compact high density amplification solution capable of delivering pitch accurate sound quality for multi-channel home theatre and multi-channel music.
Linn Ninka
The Ninka is an elegant, versatile, compact and powerful loudspeaker designed for all two channel and multi-channel applications.
Linn Silver Interconnect
Linn Silver Interconnect is unusual, having a very fine strand, high copper content in an insulated tri-wire configuration of inner signal conductor with twin outer screens. Encased within a silver outer sheath, the two double-wound outer screens of braided bands of fine soft copper encase the insulated inner soft copper signal conductor. The new Linn Silver Interconnect also remains very soft and flexible despite containing so much copper. This is due to the special braiding, very fine malleable copper strands, and soft and flexible polymer insulation materials. The new Silver Interconnect phono plug is precision machined from solid brass, subsequently gold plated, and designed to provide the maximum contact area for the music signal via nine gold plated folded finger spring contacts manufactured from hardened copper. The inner insulated soft copper signal conductor is terminated with a solid brass, gold-plated signal pin surrounded by a teflon insulator and the entire gold plated inner-plug-body-collar accommodates and firmly fastens the interconnect cable with a very strong, convenient and secure single-screw-fastening-cord-grip.
Linn K400
High quality low-loss loudspeaker cable specifically designed for bi-wired installations. - Two twisted pairs of cables provide improved sound performance. - Very flexible and easy to manipulate - Easy to solder and handle - Inner cables chalked for easy stripping
Thanks for opinions guys! Deven8: thanks for your post. I have seen your system for long time. It's really fantastic! This is where I want to be. Yes, I know the topica Linn list. It is very good source of informations. For everybody interested: http://lists.topica.com/lists/linn/read
Dr3: SC+5125 combo is really fantastic, especially if 5125 drives some speakers aktively. I decided to upgrade my system slowly, first by replacing SC with Unidisk 1.1 which will have to be connected to SC-preamp until I save more money for KISTO. Maybe until that time LINN will introduce some better sources and preamps anyway? I decided to go the source-first way: I'll replace 5125 and Ninkas as the last step. Just recently they discontinued 5125 and 2250, in the same time introducing 6 or 8 amps with Chakra technology. So maybe you should wait for those new designs or buy now 5125 for very nice discounted price.
Eddiemc: of course a dedicated preamp would improve my system. I compared SC-preamp with ie. EXOTIK and KINOS and they are for sure better, but I decided KISTO is the way to go. I don't have any other sources connected to SC, except Classik Musik temporarily few months ago.
Newmanoc: Sometimes I think how it would be to go into vinyl but I have no real experience and no any software, and actually I never heard any profesionally played vinyl. But maybe one day I should go and listen?
Garner_a: I agree with you completely! Klimax products are simply phantastic. And actually it makes me think intensively which way I should eventually go: Klimax Kontrol or Kinos/Kisto? I heard from a Linn representative that Kisto is the same sound quality product as Klimax, but I never compared them. Of course for now this is purely speculative thinking but probably I would go into Kisto because it gives all those modern feautures like picture and multichannel. It's particullary important if one owns one of the Unidisks.
