Any of y’all had the opportunity to hear the new Linn streamer? Talked with a dealer and he said it kills the Vivaldi stack. Possibly not the most unbiased review. However it could be true… I’m building a new system and have always had interest in Linn. Loving my dCS bartok but it’s just not good enough. Also… I’m too lazy to do any acoustic treatment in my room so the sound optimization from Linn is a huge selling point.
My dealer was running his demo unit direct into a pair of active ATC speakers and thought it sounded pretty good…and he is not normally one to like the recent Linn offerings.
Yes I am using sound optimization V2 and it brings a massive improvement. The bonus is you can place your speakers wherever you like for great aesthetics and a great sound.
I have been told that even the new system hub for Exakt systems (without Organik on board) is also a big improvement. My dealer is threatening to send me one for a home demo for my Akubarik Exakts
I do not use S.O…I find that it detracts strongly from the music. The front baffles of my Akubariks are 65cm from the rear wall, in my system/ house this seems to resolve issues with the bass and I have a nice fast and natural sound. I have no doubt that others will derive great benefit from S.O.
Have you heard any of the MSB offerings? I’m trying to negotiate a demo of their reference dac. Around here you basically have to buy these things and hope you like them.
You have the klimax hub now? The new board has a better clock on an independent power supply. Possibly the optical Ethernet connection adds some improvement. Difficult for me to like the new case design because it looks like a “lifestyle” product. Guess that’s progress or something…
No mystery. This is the Naim forum, and while Naim are happy for members to discuss other brands working with Naim kit, threads that become a default “forum” for other brands begin to stretch Naim’s hospitality to its limits, especially when it turns out that a contributor may have an agenda at play.
Yes @Richard.Dane thanks for explaining, I appreciate the issue, especially since Linn don’t have a forum any more, and what they have inofficially doesn’t come anywhere near this one
However I do feel it would be more transparent if posts didn’t just disappear completely but were left behind with only the title and a small comment as to why they had to vanish (or similar).
It’s a bit like someone deleting emails out of your inbox if you have been communicating in a channel that disappears without trace.
true Richard, but at 30K GBP, I hardly can see these flying off the shelves and making Naim lose sales…
I did see much over enthusiasm from a certain member, but one really has to push themselves very very hard to spend 30K GBP. I (and many others) don’t have that kind of money to spend on Linn
This is true - but the top Naim Streamer is £28k - so, you know…
And the Linn DSM includes a preamp - so comparing like for like commercially it’s actually £20k cheaper than a 555/552.
I’m not offering a qualitative view here at all - they will undoubtedly sound very different to each other - but the like for like commercial picture is clearly in Linn’s favour.
I guess that was likely me then that caused the previous thread to get removed. If so, then apologies. No agenda intended. I’ve owned a lot of Naim and Linn equipment in the past. Starting with what grew eventually into a big ticket Naim setup, which I eventually chopped in for a modest Linn system, which grew over time into quite a bit of Klimax gear, but eventually I reverted back to Naim as I simply prefer it, having had quite a bit of experience of both.
I think we all like a bit of speculation about major new products on the HIFi scene, which is how the thread started. I did notice a few inaccuracies by other posters about other Linn products which, based on previous knowledge and experience as an owner, I stepped in and provided the correct info. I’m not sure that a single thread about another manufacturers products constitutes a forum, but noted. I see there is another thread here in the HiFi section about all things Chord, so obviously there is a fine line that the deleted thread crossed.
Naim are, as I’m sure you appreciate, pretty cool about members talking about other brands. They are confident in what they do and don’t suffer too much insecurity there - as evidenced by this forum! However, there are two issues Ali that always need to be considered; the first is to respect that this is the Naim forum. The second is forum rules and where there’s evidence that there may well be an agenda at play, then any such thread is usually either moderated or more likely removed.
well a Chord Dave offers a top DAC and digital preamp for 8500 GBP.
It was and still is an enormous amount of money for me back in 2016,
BUT Linn are a little late to to the FPGA DAC innovation, (but still, better late than never) and also too high a cost for many of us to even consider.
I am no Shark Tank investor (not even remotely close) , but I like it when they say “I’m out”
I posted the same argument about pricing on another thread (or maybe it was a different forum?), but I also added that the clear budgeting advantage for Naim is that it’s not necessary for the customer to fork out £30k in one go. Usually people work up to the ND555, 2xCD555PSDR, NAC552 level with other preamps, one PS, perhaps the NDX2 or the earlier streamer range etc. That way Naim customers can enjoy the journey instead of just arriving at the destination, which seems to be the requirement with the new Linn unit.
The Linn may offer the advantage of just one box, but it’s a lot less flexible and it’s not particularly attractive, at least not to my eyes.