My HI-FI history normally revolved around a REGA PLANAR 3 TURNTABLE + NAD 3020 AMPLIFIER + various NAD components + BIG Speakers. I always found that NAD products gave the greatest sound compared to price of equipment so they were always my first choice. I had heard plenty of LINN/NAIM stuff but was never a real fan due to (1) The price - they seem to use the "Rolls Royce" theory of sales i.e. Continually tell people they sell the best product in the market, convince them of this theory, and then charge high prices. (2) The products always seemed over complicated and not especially user friendly. (3) LINN after sales has a pretty shoddy reputation (especially if its old equipment).
My listening habits have now changed (mostly streaming from Qobuz + Internet Radio) or FM Radio) so I thought it would be a good time to get a LINN SYSTEM. I set myself the goal of buying all the equipment on eBay and getting the items at "value prices". The two rules were that it had to be in perfect working condition and have no cosmetic issues that could not be easily fixed. Over a six week period i came up with :
(1) A pair of LINN KEILIDH SPEAKERS + KU STONE BASES @ £97 - Had a few surface scratches that polished out and a few coats of water based black wood dye @ £2.00 a tin soon had them looking fine. Also came with about 25 meters of heavy duty bi-wired speaker cable.
(2) LINN LK1 PRE AMPLIFIER @ £65 - the best deal, only because the seller though the "phono stage" was not working properly. This was not going to bother me as the REGA PLANAR 3 had been sold.
(3) LINN LK 28 POWER AMPLIFIER @ £190 - to match (2). Perfect condition.
(4) LINN KUDOS STEREO TUNER @ £118 - from GERMAN eBay. Perfect condition.
TOTAL SPEND £470. Due to some of the complications at the rear of the LINN boxes I had to buy a few XLR or RC connectors/adaptors, but all these were less than £20.00 so a GRAND TOTAL of UNDER £500 which was great value.
These prices include POSTAGE so its the full spend.
Apart from giving everything a good clean and polish it was all fairly easy. I have had a quick look on the web and when they were new each component sold @ around £1,000, so thats £4,000 then.............up to £10,000 @ todays prices ??
The SOUND (which is what its all about) is very good and no loss of performance as you increase the volume. You can go into a LINN DEALER and put £50,000 on the table and get a wonderful system but I suggest its not x 100 times better than the "value system" I have put together (law of diminishing returns).
I hope this shows, that with a bit of effort, you can still get great LINN sound without spending a fortune.
My listening habits have now changed (mostly streaming from Qobuz + Internet Radio) or FM Radio) so I thought it would be a good time to get a LINN SYSTEM. I set myself the goal of buying all the equipment on eBay and getting the items at "value prices". The two rules were that it had to be in perfect working condition and have no cosmetic issues that could not be easily fixed. Over a six week period i came up with :
(1) A pair of LINN KEILIDH SPEAKERS + KU STONE BASES @ £97 - Had a few surface scratches that polished out and a few coats of water based black wood dye @ £2.00 a tin soon had them looking fine. Also came with about 25 meters of heavy duty bi-wired speaker cable.
(2) LINN LK1 PRE AMPLIFIER @ £65 - the best deal, only because the seller though the "phono stage" was not working properly. This was not going to bother me as the REGA PLANAR 3 had been sold.
(3) LINN LK 28 POWER AMPLIFIER @ £190 - to match (2). Perfect condition.
(4) LINN KUDOS STEREO TUNER @ £118 - from GERMAN eBay. Perfect condition.
TOTAL SPEND £470. Due to some of the complications at the rear of the LINN boxes I had to buy a few XLR or RC connectors/adaptors, but all these were less than £20.00 so a GRAND TOTAL of UNDER £500 which was great value.
These prices include POSTAGE so its the full spend.
Apart from giving everything a good clean and polish it was all fairly easy. I have had a quick look on the web and when they were new each component sold @ around £1,000, so thats £4,000 then.............up to £10,000 @ todays prices ??
The SOUND (which is what its all about) is very good and no loss of performance as you increase the volume. You can go into a LINN DEALER and put £50,000 on the table and get a wonderful system but I suggest its not x 100 times better than the "value system" I have put together (law of diminishing returns).
I hope this shows, that with a bit of effort, you can still get great LINN sound without spending a fortune.
