Tweet
In my seemingly endless search for electronics to run my 803D's, I was able to demo some Linn Equipment over the last few days. My stereo salesman dropped off a brand new Linn Unidisk SC and Chakra 3200 amp for my front speakers (803D's and HTM2D), as well as a 2100 for the surrounds, on Sunday and I've been pegging the fun meter with them until he returned today to pick them up.
Very nice to look at (these were the black models) as well as easy to use due to their size. WAF gave them a thumbs up in the aesthetics department.
The strengths of the Linn SC undoubtedly are found with its multi-channel capabilities and, more specifically, with its ability to play the SACD format.
All the movies/DVD's I played on it came alive and it was just startling to realize how much I was missing with my Marantz DV-8300 player.
But the real difference was revealed when I played several SACD's on the Linn. I will go so far as to say that I now realize I had never really heard SACD before. I have a SACD Telarc sampler that I had listened to with the Marantz that I found to have only a couple of decent sounding songs on. When I played it on the Linn the sound was absolutely stunning! Every song had the wow factor cranked and I couldn't believe how vibrant and enrapturing this same SACD had become just by playing it on the Linn. It's quite obvious that Linn has dedicated themselves to being one of the best in utilizing this format.
2-Channel music was also good, but I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with the Classe I demo'd a couple of weeks ago. The Linn sounds a little harsher to me and I prefer the more velvety tone of the Classe. And although the Linn has ample bass, it seemed to me that the Classe controlled the 803D's bass better. This is probably due to the Classe having more power. (the Linn's 200 wpc is based on 4ohms). The Classe seemed to have a deeper sound stage as well. The Linn was more detailed without any "smear" that some might accuse the Classe of exhibiting.
Overall the Linn was quite impressive and has alot going for it. If you are in love with the SACD multi-channel format you MUST check out the Unidisk SC, it is amazing in that realm.
Now.....decisions, decisions.....
Very nice to look at (these were the black models) as well as easy to use due to their size. WAF gave them a thumbs up in the aesthetics department.
The strengths of the Linn SC undoubtedly are found with its multi-channel capabilities and, more specifically, with its ability to play the SACD format.
All the movies/DVD's I played on it came alive and it was just startling to realize how much I was missing with my Marantz DV-8300 player.
But the real difference was revealed when I played several SACD's on the Linn. I will go so far as to say that I now realize I had never really heard SACD before. I have a SACD Telarc sampler that I had listened to with the Marantz that I found to have only a couple of decent sounding songs on. When I played it on the Linn the sound was absolutely stunning! Every song had the wow factor cranked and I couldn't believe how vibrant and enrapturing this same SACD had become just by playing it on the Linn. It's quite obvious that Linn has dedicated themselves to being one of the best in utilizing this format.
2-Channel music was also good, but I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with the Classe I demo'd a couple of weeks ago. The Linn sounds a little harsher to me and I prefer the more velvety tone of the Classe. And although the Linn has ample bass, it seemed to me that the Classe controlled the 803D's bass better. This is probably due to the Classe having more power. (the Linn's 200 wpc is based on 4ohms). The Classe seemed to have a deeper sound stage as well. The Linn was more detailed without any "smear" that some might accuse the Classe of exhibiting.
Overall the Linn was quite impressive and has alot going for it. If you are in love with the SACD multi-channel format you MUST check out the Unidisk SC, it is amazing in that realm.
Now.....decisions, decisions.....
Comment