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Looking to start a new system

I am looking to start a quality used system on a budget ... young and starting out! I am a UK expat and have heard most Linn equipment (and other major manufacturers) up until 2001 when I sold my equipment and moved to the USA.

I have been patching a system up in the states, via ebay and thrift, but my Audio Alchemy DLC is now out of action. I have decided to take a plunge and buy the linn hifi I was once going towards. The DLC will likely be offered as a fixer/slimline planter in the classifieds unless someone has any suggestions based on the problem below.

(DLC-The problem is the preamp has failed, the unit powers up, the remote and display do everything it should. However, there is no control of the volume, all I hear is distortion (with a high output input, CD) through the speakers if the amp is set to -96 or near maximum, or a low level distorted signal through the speakers if I use a tuner. It does not matter what volume I set it to the level remains the same through the speakers, low level and distorted. Everything in the system works well as tested with another makeshift preamp.)

Back to my questions...

I have seen many Linn products for sale ... so I am looking for advice on what is best-

A Wakonda with two LK100s
A Direktor with two LK85s
Substitute two power amps with one LK140
And combinations of the above or other suggestions.

I will likely try to obtain a pair of Keilidhs (Cherry or Beech, newest revision) or Ninkas (I am told the Keilidhs are superior in some ways) and run the setup with a Micromega Stage 2 (paid $150, I like it - until I can afford a better one).

Fortunately I kept all of my Chord Co. cables when I left the UK ... so there is no problem there!

If anyone has any suggestions and advice that would be fantastic.

Thanks

Darren
nanofabrication

Showing 2 responses by tobias

tobias
1,534 posts
 
Hi Nano, I think what happened to the TEACs is they got very overbuilt,
multitalented and wonderful, and grew prices to match.

Check out the drawings of the VRDS mechanism's latest evolutionary stages
at

[url]http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/esoteric2/x03.html[/url]

BTW Klout indeed much better than LK140... Linn know/knew this of course,
it made upping the music lover's ante an easy game.

I earned that store's undying hatred by going tubes instead of active. Can't
blame them really.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
If I were going to stick with Linn and my options were those detailed in the OP, I would choose the Kolektor and the LK140. This is from having demoed the Wakonda, LK85 and LK140 with Keilidhs both active and passive, back when they were new... it took several visits to the store to hear all the possible combinations.

Particularly interesting was a single LK140 versus two LK85s in passive biamp configuration. The LK140 won for its energy and drive, a big difference over the smaller amps, with no important sacrifices. Active LK85s were another story, but still lesser amps in the drive department and frankly, I decided it made sense to start higher up the line.

I have not heard the Kolektor--eventually I went in a different direction from Linn entirely--but the dealer recommended it as a preamp over anything I had heard up to then.
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