Myron, if you ever find a $300 Kairn with a slimline power supply to be an albatross, email me. I'll relieve you of your burden speedily.
The battery repair will take a dealer around ten minutes, and then he can check out the rest of the preamp. I probably will only cost around half an hour of labor. If the battery is the only thing wrong, you have found an outrageously good deal. |
Borg7x9, You are either one lucky fellow or maybe you just live right. Are you aware of the market value of a Kairn w/slimline and phono? I concur with Newmanoc about the service advice. Good luck and enjoy, I owned one for years before going over to the dark side (tubes) or was that the light?
Happy Listening! |
Thank you Gentlemen, you've eased my worries somewhat. I'll contact my local dealer here in Auckland and get them to give it a once over.
What are your guys opinions of the onboard Phono stages in the Kairn ?? I've really bought it as a way back into Vinyl . I too have gone over to the dark side (avantgarde duos/Yamamoto A-08s/Meridain 500 series 3box cd/digamp)
I dont really need the Karin in the system as it stands but i thought it might give me a little extra flexibility (especially in being able to add a turntable). It'll be inetersting to see what it does to the sound of the system, which isn't at all bad.
Yes I did think it was a very good buy, but then things that seem too good to be true oftern are. I'll let you know how I go. Thanks for your interest and time.
Myron. |
The Kairn phono stage is remarkably good. There is no stand alone phono stage you can buy even on the used market for $300 that will sound nearly as good. The closest is a Dynavector P75 ($600 new, $400 used), which for some tastes is arguably better, but even then many would not agree. Enjoy your journey into vinyl - it is a lot of fun. |
Thanks Newmanoc,
I've found an ex-dem wilson benesch full circle (including ply) for around 2000USD which I'm contemplating at the moment. (I used to own an Orbe/smeV/MC30) and I've got around 2000 lp's. So in the long run it'll save me money in the purchace of software. Thats what I'm telling my partner anyway. I'm ver much looking forward to it.:-) |
The continuing saga...........
I left the amp powered up over the last couple of days to see if the internal battery could be charged. I turned it off and on at the switch and now it wont turn on again, no led t at the switch, nothing. Very Interesting. I feel a trip to my local Linn dealers comming on.
Myron. |
Another continuing story of a quack thats gone to the dogs.
Anyway on the the Kairn. My linn Dealer tells me that the brilliant powersupply is faulty and will send it back to UK for full upgrade to slimline-bps for 300us ( this will include a full case replacemet etc. So in the end I'll have a fully functional Kairn for around 600us. I suppose thats about on the money. Not a bargin , but I dont feel ripped off either, which is nice.
Thanks for your time,
Myron. |
Sorry about the power supply problem. But even at $600, you can easily get your money back plus some profit should you decide to sell. One of the nice things about Linn service is that they use a flat rate for most repairs, which is $250 (plus shipping, etc). It doesn't matter if it is a CD 12 (20k USD) they are fixing, it is still only $250. It usually works about to be a very good deal. |
That sounds like a very fair system.
As I'm going to be going to be converting to a vinyl main source. I'm thinking of trying to get hold of an Ikemi or a genki as a cd front end to replace my 3 box 500 series meridian. Less boxes would be a good thing.
As a second source I'd decided that the cheaper Genki would be a good idea, but a second hand ikemi doesn't seem that much more at 6-800 dollars extra. Is the Ikemi that much of a step up in performance from the genki to make it worth while . ??
your thoughts would be appreciated.
thanks,
Myron. |
"As a second source I'd decided that the cheaper Genki would be a good idea, but a second hand ikemi doesn't seem that much more at 6-800 dollars extra. Is the Ikemi that much of a step up in performance from the genki to make it worth while . ??"
It is absolutely worth the extra money. I have owned both. There is something about the Ikemi (and I'm sure other CD players of its quality), that for me at least, pass a mysterious threshold where digital music becomes truly involving. The Ikemi is already a good deal on the used market, and it should soon be even better. Linn is coming out with a new CD player to replace it in the near future, and after that there should be a lot of Ikemi's for sale. It is too early to say how much the price will drop, but reason says it should. |
Thats a great answer, thank you.
I completely agree that there is a point where digital players become involving and free from significant digital "nasties". I have quite a substantial cd collection so while it will be a second source then it'll still need to be enjoyable and relaxing. I'll keep an eye out for an ikemi.
Thanks again for the excellent advice.
|
Hi,
I've encountered the same problem too. The "don't panic..." appeared. Unfortunately my Kairn died on me. No more sound is coming out of it.
Does anyone here have the owner's manual where I can perform a hard reset in hope of reviving my pre-amp?
Or better still, where can I obtain the schematics for the Linn Kairn?
Would appreciate any help at all.
Cheers
desperate Linn Kairn owner... |
