Colours to the Mast

Some of you have asked me whether or not I have (shock, horror) made the change to Linn. The short answer is "yes". Tony L, Vuk, JC and maybe some others have asked me this and I did contemplate emailing them personally rather than appearing like some kind of turncoat on the forum. Well I decided it is better to be a turncoat than a yellow-coat and state my position openly

The whole thing started when I auditioned Linn and Naim amplifiers at my dealer in York. The impressiveness of the Naim amplifiers won me over and I started investing in Naim. The same thing happened with the CDX and I was concerned (as my dealer was) that the Ikemi was underperforming and not showing what Linn was capable of doing.

Later, I was interested in installing a 2nd smaller system in my other abode near where I work (withdrawl symptoms eh? ). I decided to give Linn a 2nd chance and auditioned a Genki/Kolektor/LK140/K400/Katans at Linn in Harrods. It was fantastic, far better than the more expensive Linn system at the dealers in York.

So, a while after I buy and have the system installed (part from Harrods, part from Audio-T in Reading - thanks Frank!) I go back up north to listen to my CDX/72/HiCap/110/Kan II....

....penny drops. The music wasn't gelling as well as the Linn system. In fact, the Linn system blew me away, and I had trouble getting into the music with the Naim kit.

I did the CD player comparison again at the Sound Organisation (York) - although without the CD55. This time I used Linn amps, cabling and loudspeakers (Kolektor/LK140/K400/Katans).

Started off with the Genki (as I have in my system) and it sounded similar - always a good start

Then swapped the Genki for the Ikemi. Now, the problem with the Ikemi at the dealer was that it was an old version (Linn have made subsequent modifications) and we had the feeling that this sample was sub-standard - hence the bad demo months earlier. The feeling was still the same, fair enough the Ikemi did give lift a bit more dimensionality from the performers and there was noticably more bass. The down point was that the Genki was more lyrical than the Ikemi sample (a bit plus point). Overall the old sample of the Ikemi was not deemed to be of good value-for-money.

Next came the CDX. The CDX was "technically brilliant" by comparison. Extremely well balanced frequency response, more bottom end than the Linns, lots of enthusiasm (not that the Genki didn't have any). You would have thought that I would have gone for it... (well on first listening I did, remember? . Well there was a problem, two problems in fact, and something that was highlighted when comparing between my Naim system (when I had it) and Linn system. The first problem is that in its enthusiasm the CDX played music AT me, while the Genki engaged me with the music. The second problem was that the Genki was far far superior to the CDX (IMHO) with the timing of interplay between different musicians... GUYS, DO NOT CONFUSE SPEED WITH TIMING WHEN AUDITIONING KIT.

Another point I noticed between the CDX and Genki [this may seem crazy, but I have repeatedly found this to be the case for me] is the way the foot taps to Linn, and the way the foot taps to Naim is entirely different. With Naim, the tapping is somewhat forced and mechanical (almost feeling my ankle grinding), with Linn it is easy, flows and is very forgiving (while still accurate).

I decided to stick with the Genki for the moment. The dealer mentioned that latest versions of the Ikemi are far better and many customers are extremely pleased with their Ikemi purchase. This was a test I would have to leave till later. However, I have an extra CD player (CDX) to trade in for something... hmmmm maybe let's try an LP12.

The comparison was quite a revelation. Both the CDX and LP12 have the same level of technical brilliance, both having a similar level of frequency balance and both revealed similar levels of inner detail to vocals. The difference was however in the groove. The turntable exhibited far more groove, bop, timing (more than the Genki) and easy foot-tapping.

A comparison between the Valhalla and Lingo sold me the Lingo. So, an LP12/Lingo will be heading my way and I have already re-started collecting more vinyl (New Year's Resolution). Oh, I've gone for fluted afromosia (or walnut if they still do it).

So this is it... a rather long winded way of making a decision. Partly diverted by a bad Ikemi, partly diverted by several bad shows by Linn (Hammersmith, Bristol etc.).

The thing is I still have great respect for Naim, in comparison with the rest of the brands, Naim make far more compelling music. For me, there is an exception and that exception is Linn. For me the difference between Linn and Naim is as big as the difference between Naim and the rest. So I have made a decision - although I will still tell others that Naim is worth investigating.

The other point is that I am sure that an extended home demo would have made me come to the same decision sooner. When the time comes to make a decision between Linn or Naim, demo at the dealers to make a decision on which components to audition at home, then spend some time with both sets of kit at home.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
The frightening thing is not dying
The frightening thing is not living