Linn Amps for Harbeth! Any experience?

[W. B.]

Hallo,

since a pair of Monitor 30 have replaced the Linn Ninka speakers I am much happier with my equipment. Being so successful selling Linn gear made me think about my Linn Majik pre power combo. ...
Maybe I will give them a go. But maybe its a match made in heaven and I am only suffering by an audiophile insomnia.

Does anybody have here any experience with Linn amps and Harbeth speakers?
(and how about Exposure amps?)

Thanks

W. B.

[hifi_dave]

All Harbeth speakers including your Monitor 30's are easy to drive and so you don't need to spend a fortune on a large, muscle amp to get the best from them. The Linn amps will be just fine if that is what you have but if you are looking for an amp, I would suggest that there are better sounding amps than these. There have been many recommendations for suitable amps on this forum.

[macraddy]

I?ve heard most of Linn?s current range with Compact 7s and think that the Majik Pre/Power combo is the best in the range. (And yes, I?m including the expensive Klimax Kontrol and Monoblocks!) There?s plenty on the web about the characteristic Linn sound. I think it?s a nice combo unless you listen to classical music. If you do, you might find the rolled off high frequencies takes a naturalness from the strings especially, and also the slightly dark sound removed some atmosphere from the recording venue. Linn are good with PRaT but don?t do tone, texture, timbre very well IMHO. (I?ve owned lots of Linn kit, so don?t have an axe to grind.) I?d imagine the Majik amp you have will be significantly more satisfying than Exposure kit, but I haven?t made a direct comparison.

As mentioned above ? this topic is discussed thoroughly herein!

Good luck!

[W. B.]

Thank you! That is the first concrete Harbeth/Linn experience I heard of.

A couple of weeks ago, I compared both amps (Exposure is a simple XV) with the harbeth. I used the MM-phono input of the Majik Kontrol, because I am using an Adikt with my LP12 and the XV just got a MC input.
The result was a bit confusing:
First impression I thought the Linn amps doing more in nearly every aspect, but after listening for a while I felt the music lost a bit of internal balance. The exposure had a more convincing, relaxter and coherent sound.
The Linn amps sounded better but worse. But the difference wasn?t huge, nothing to compare when I changed my Linn speakers (Ninkas) against that Monitor 30.
I am listening mainly to Jazz (50%), but I also like classics e.g. chamber music (30%) a lot. The Linn speakers were ok with Jazz, but classic and voices are so much better now. Having lost a bit of PRaT is also relaxing. But I am not sure how much of it I need.

Regards.

W. B.

[macraddy]

Hello WB,

Your findings re Linn sound familiar. You?ve made the main change ? to Harbeth. I think only you can decide if you want to spend more money to gain more from the system. Chamber music especially would gain from a more open and natural sounding amp. (I listen mainly to chamber and solo piano.) I favour Sugden, but many others are discussed in the Harbeth forums. Regardless I?m sure your 30s and Majik set-up sound very nice together!

Linn and Naim especially in my experience do seem to ?bounce? along a little excessively, (I think it?s sometimes referred to as the ?happy? sound?) so I can empathise with your comment re PRaT. It sounds like Exposure have also improved since I last heard some. (Although it was a while ago.)

Kind Regards

[garmtz]

I have used in our shop Linn a lot with Harbeth and I think it is a very good combination. In fact, at home I am playing with the Majik DS-I and Monitor 30! I would strongly advise you listen to the Majik DS on your pre/power, it is a brilliant source! Linn brings out the subtlety and transparency of the M30 very well. The M30 majors less on PRaT than Linn speakers, but this more fluid presentation suits me fine.

[macraddy]

Hello Garmtz,

How would you say the Majik DS-I compares to the Klimax DS I once auditioned? (Out of curiosity?)

[garmtz]

Hello Garmtz,

How would you say the Majik DS-I compares to the Klimax DS I once auditioned? (Out of curiosity?)

No, not at all... The streaming part of the Majik DS-I (from it's line out) is not on par with the Klimax DS. But because it keeps all the signals internally, connecting a Klimax DS to one of the analog inputs of the DS-I will not be much better than the DS-I by itself. This is what makes it such a good unit.

[W. B.]

Thank you!

This were the first experiences I have heard about Linn and Harbeth.
It seems that the Majiks are a rather good but not perfect match.

That "happy sound" of Linn is fascinating and fatigueing to me. This sound may make the Linnies so adicted to. But in my ears this improved already a lot with the new speakers.

I think I won?t force anything but keep my eyes open.

Regards

W.B.

[garmtz]

I would say Linn have a 'fresh' and lively sound, but to my ears, it is not fatigueing.

[macraddy]

No, not at all... The streaming part of the Majik DS-I (from it's line out) is not on par with the Klimax DS. But because it keeps all the signals internally, connecting a Klimax DS to one of the analog inputs of the DS-I will not be much better than the DS-I by itself. This is what makes it such a good unit.

Hello,

Sorry, I think my question may have not been clear, I meant to ask HOW do the two compare? I listened to the Klimax DS + Klimax amp (Kontrol and Solo 500s) and was completely underwhelmed, I wondered if anything had improved? I think the CD12 certainly seems to closer to the heart of the matter and could hear little difference between the Klimax DS and Unidisk 1.1 that I owned at the time.

[macraddy]

I would say Linn have a 'fresh' and lively sound, but to my ears, it is not fatigueing.

Lively ? no doubt at all, but I can?t imagine any Linn kit ever sounding ?fresh? as it implies ?open? which it certainly isn?t IMHO. Each to his own though. I suppose this is why we audition hi-fi. There no doubt it?s an enjoyable listen, at the right price point. And I do realise you make your living by selling folk Linn equipment! (And I understand that Ivor listens to an old Sugden Amp at home!)

[garmtz]

Hello,

Sorry, I think my question may have not been clear, I meant to ask HOW do the two compare? I listened to the Klimax DS + Klimax amp (Kontrol and Solo 500s) and was completely underwhelmed, I wondered if anything had improved? I think the CD12 certainly seems to closer to the heart of the matter and could hear little difference between the Klimax DS and Unidisk 1.1 that I owned at the time.

I have heard the Majik DS sounding better than the Unidisk 1.1, so the Klimax DS (we have Majik, Akurate, Klimax) in the right system should be much better. I like the Klimax DS, but in a complete Klimax system, the analytical sound is an acquired taste.

[macraddy]

Again, each to his own. The Klimax series to my ears sounds like a poor electric representation of music, and certainly nothing like the real thing. I heard the full Klimax system including Komris and Artikulates. It'd be broing if we all liked the same thing though!

[garmtz]

Lively ? no doubt at all, but I can?t imagine any Linn kit ever sounding ?fresh? as it implies ?open? which it certainly isn?t IMHO. Each to his own though. I suppose this is why we audition hi-fi. There no doubt it?s an enjoyable listen, at the right price point. And I do realise you make your living by selling folk Linn equipment! (And I understand that Ivor listens to an old Sugden Amp at home!)

What is the last Linn kit you have listened to?

[DSRANCE]

Linn amps of the early "noughties" worked well with the couple of older Harbeth models I tried them with, although I preferred the overall presentation with the likes of Quad, bigger and more powerful Arcam (yes, with Harbeths..) and AVI, which didn't sound as "dirty" to my ears.

I do appreciate that times have moved on and both Linn and Harbeth products are now further developed, but I thought I'd drop in my 2p worth.

[macraddy]

What is the last Linn kit you have listened to?

I spent a couple of days about 18 months ago listening to pretty much everything digital. Sources were Unidisk 1.1, which I owned at the time, Akurate DS and Klimax DS. Amps were Majik Pre/power, Akurate pre/power and Klimax Pre/Monos (quite a few monos for the Komris!) Speakers were Floorstanding Akurates and Artikulates and the Komris, in addition to B&Ws, as I owned them at the time too. I'd owned a Kairn/Klout for many years and only the Majik and Artikulate amps seemed to be able to approach it in terms of musicality. It was a dark day as I'd been a Linn Devotee since the wonderful Karik/Numerik/Kairn/Klout/Keltik system is the 90s. (Still one of the best couple of systems I've EVER heard!) TBH I've heard most of what they've made and genuinely feel like they've lost the plot as my ears simply don't tell me that what I'm hearing resembles music. (Class D amplification?) That said, I've recently advised a friend to audition the Majik system and he's bought one - it sounds very fine for his taste in music.

Given my reservations about the amplification I listened to the Klimax DS via the Naim 500 series amp. (A very fine performer). Again, it did very little for me. I was expecting to hear the full Klimax system and hand over my debit card, but it wasn't to be!

To be fair, Linn have always seemed better at producing non-classical music and I only listen to classical music, so it was a tall order. Their systems don't possess the natural liquid mid-range and illuminated, grain-free top end that I wanted.

Sorry for going on a bit - I wanted to suggest that I wasn't shooting my mouth off without much experience. All hi-fi is subjective and I did chuckle when you wrote you'd heard a Majik DS sounding 'better' than a Unidisk - I wondered if the scientific algorithm had finally been developed to substantiate such an absolute statement!