Line Magnetic quality

I think the Line Magnetic amps look and sound good.

Buy from a dealer so you have service in case of an issue. 

I have heard the LM34IA with a pair of Falcon speakers and it sounded great

I thought that LM is now dissolved as the two brothers that started the company were at odds with each other?  Did this issue get resolved?

I own a Line Magnetic 518IA (845 based tube) , have had it for 3 years, excelent  build quality and sound. If you need info about the compaby or product contact the US distributor, Jeff Halpern, through the email below 

shindo.usa@mac.com

Maybe I’ll try to see if I can test a LM34IA at my home this weekend.

Anyone know if it’s a successor to the LM211A?


@factena I’m in Sweden🙂

simna

Here's link to a Line Magnetic Europe  , it appears that the 341 & 211 are both available with the 341 generating a few more watts 

https://www.line-magnetic.eu/en/products-line-magnetic-en/integrated-tube-amplifier-line-magnetic-en

I had a 518ia for about a year and a half, recently sold it. Build quality is excellent and so are the sonics. I wouldn't hesitate to own one again.

Oz

@ozzy62 

Mind me asking, why did you sell it?

I have a 216 integrated from LM Audio that I bought after auditioning with a local audio dealer. I listened to it for a long time after I had listened to Leben, AR, Primuluna and Rogue amps. I was impressed and my dealer assured me the company will stand by their stuff. I enjoyed it for three years and a transformer went out. True to their word, LM Audio replaced the part, while my dealer gave me a loaner. I play the amp and enjoy it very much. I don’t think all Chinese audio is of poor quality. After all, many American, European and Japanese hi-fi companies manufacture parts and whole components in China or Taiwan.
LM Audio has begun by the influence of Western Electric of the old days in American audio. I think that is why their products sound so good. They also make some esoteric and fantastic speakers. If you like the old tonal sound of tubes and a sweet midrange LM Audio will deliver. IMHO.

Check out the reviews:

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/line-magnetic-219ia-integrated-tube-amp-review-300b-and-845-tube-magic...

https://www.dagogo.com/line-magnetic-219ia-integrated-amplifier-review/

Which is why I bought it... great amp!

The LM 518ia is also a great amp - see it’s reviews also.

But... only buy them from a US dealer / distributor, or from an owner who has.  

See the reviews of the great LM 518ia also:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/line-magnetic-audio-lm-518ia-integrated-amplifier

http://wallofsound.ca/audioreviews/line-magnetic-518ia-integrated-amplifier/

And here’s a dealer in Austin:

http://www.whetstoneaudio.com/product/line-magnetic-518ia-integrated-vacuum-tube-amplifier/

 

I recently heard a Line Magnetic Integrated Amp rated at 25 wpc. This was an older two stage looking model. (Unsure of model) It was a shop I visit weekly to see whats new. This LM produced by far the best sound of any amp he has operating to date. He sold it that week so were are back to his Quicksilvers. Based on that one session I would say they are great!! 

Mind me asking, why did you sell it?

As much as I liked it, it wasn't a perfect match for my khorns. I ended up with a Decware Torii II which has a richer tone and not quite as forward.

That said, the LM has balls for days and will easily wake up a laid back pair of speakers.

Oz

Hi
I have the LM-508 and I bought it (much cheaper than in USA) from a authorized dealer directly from China because there's no Line Magnetic dealer here in Argentina.
The amp is amazing and the dealer is very profesional.
Also Audio-gd is a chinese brand with a extraordinary quality price ratio and warranty. I have the Audio-gd R2R-2 DAC and the Master 1 pre and the are really a bargain for the quality of sound you get.
My system costs about 15K and only my speakers (Q Acoustics Concept 500) and cables (Kimber and DH Labs) are not from China. Recently I heard a denish Bang & Olufsen almost 100K system and mine sounded much better. 
Dont fool yourself, these two chinese brands are great and not always more expensive is better.

FWIW, the best amp I ever had was Chinese (not LM). 

Chinese can build anything as good as anybody .
The main thing anywhere is to find honest people ..

OK guys, you have convinced me. I’ve found a dealer just 45 minutes away from where I live. And he has the LM34AI. And I can take it home on friday. But it’s brand new, not even unpacked so the tubes need burning in. My experience says about 50 hours, which means I hope I can have it for a week or so.

I have line magnetic 300b set mono blocks and a matching line magnetic pre from their old classic line, as my second system. It’s a Western Electric replica system with a very unusual layout (compared to modern valve systems), but it’s beautiful sounding gear that has given me a lot of pleasure over the last 4 years. It looks lovely too, not just my opinion, my wife has matched some furniture to it, who could ask for more.

I had a transformer problem on the pre in the first year I had it, but it has played flawlessly since the transformer was replaced. I bought from a reputable dealer and the repairs were all done under warranty.

I would say the stock tubes were pretty ordinary as with a lot of new gear I’ve seen. They were quickly replaced, both the amps and pre are capable of much more than the stock tubes would suggest. They are a tube rollers dream.

+1 safnz - upgrading the tubes takes the LM to another level

Speaking of great Chinese gear, I've tried heaps of valves in my Line Magnetics, JJ's, EMs, Shuguangs, Tung-sols, Sovteks, JAN, Mullard, SED's, Golden Lion. Some I hated, some I liked a lot. But the ones that I've been most impressed by for both sound and reliability are Psvanes.They are fabulous tubes, and have replaced most of the tubes in my two systems. I've bought around 30 over the last four years including 300B, 6SN7, 310A, 12AX7, 12AT7. Not a single dud, every tube has been perfect. And they have really transformed my LM gear.The top end valves are pretty pricey, but they have several ranges at different price points and their more basic versions are still really good.

I have owned the 211ia and currently own the 518ia.  Superb amplifiers.  Give Charlie at Stereo Haven a call.....he will fix u up.

My first serious amp is LM 508ia. Been enjoying since last week on my pair of 10+ year old Paradigm Studio 40v3 pair of speakers. I got a demo version from a dealer and it sounds good to me. It is heavy and seems very well built it does perform better than my Marantz SR7005. Does put out a lot of heat just like any other class A amp I guess.

You should consider your speakers, how far you sit from them, how loud you like to listen to etc before going the tube way. But you may already know that.

I have a Primaluna.  It was made in China, and the build quality is excellent.  No reason the Line Magnetic can't also be an excellent piece!

The Cayin (aka Zhuhai Spark Electronic Equipment Co) brand gave birth to LM. Legend has it that the two brothers were engineers at Cayin, then struck out on their own. I've been told they source many parts from the same suppliers and have similar build quality. I have an early Cayin integrated, supposedly engineered by the LM brothers, that's now going on 12 years old. It operates as new and is built like a tank. Except for the bias boards, it's all hand-wired with a very tidy layout. It has only high quality parts: Takman, Nichicon, Clarity...and much quieter transformers than found in one of the major American competitors. Zero hum or buzz can be heard through my speakers at idle, only the slightest hiss with ears against the tweeters.

My DAC is an LM model and also built like a BSH - again, very high quality parts throughout, no corner cutting. 

I have a Triode TRV 845 stereo amp.   Triode equipment is made by LM to Triode design specifications.   While not a LM branded amp I can say that build quality is outstanding.   Reliability has been excellent.  Bias has held rock steady for 2yrs.     You will be happy with a LM amp.  

Now, after a little more than 50 hours burning in, I’ve given the LM34IA a serious listening and I’ve made a comparison with my old Tube Technlogy Unisis Signature with EL84 tubes.
Differences are; 
Treble: TT more extended and more open than LM.
Mids: LM warmer and nicer than TT
Bass: TT tighter and cleaner than LM. LM sounds boomy and too much. But I know the room has a problimatic frequency around 46-48Hz and maybe LM manage to emphasis this. 

I think it sounds very good for the money, but I really need to get rid of this boominess (is there such a word?).
Anyone who knows which brand the stock tubes are and have a suggestion of some tubes that are thighter in the bass?

@simna

I recommend you to audition LM508 or 805

It will blow away any tube integrated amplifier under 9K.

One more tip is that if you change input tubes with some NOS tube, it will improve sound drastically.

You do not need to spend lot of money.

I got good result with NOS tube with 70$ pair.

You can't go wrong with Line Magnetic. 
For the past 7 years I lived near their factory and made some friendships with people related to Line Magnetic, Cayin and other Chinese brands (designers, technicians and dealers). And I must say that they take their products very seriously. Quality - both materials and sonics - is outstanding and long gone are the days when Chinese production was synonymous of crap. Of course there are still many shitty Chinese products, but not at this level. 
And these two factories alone (LM and Cayin) are assembling fine pretty pieces of gear for many ultra-expensive brands. 

Along my journey I auditioned almost every product from LM and Cayin (and also Opera Consonance, MingDa, Yaqin and others) and have owned a few Chinese equipments, the most interesting and famous being the huge LM219ia. And although the qualities and attributes of sound are very subjective, one thing for sure is objective: the built quality.
So if you enjoy the sound and style of Line Magnetic gear, just go for it with confidence. 
I think this new model - LM34ia - is replacing the 211. That was a fine entry level amplifier. But my favorites are the big brothers, 518, 508 and 219. I experienced these amplifiers with speakers from Zu Audio, Omega, Dali, Tannoy and ATC, all combos sounding great - preferring the high efficiency speakers though. 
Just pick a model that fits your budget and taste and you will be satisfied. 

@ geek101



Try Ssl7 first.

It has the most effect .

I am happy with Brimar

True NOS Gain Tested Brimar England CV1985 / 6SL7GT Vacuum Tube Brown Base | eBay


I also have ECC35 recommend by other folks. But it is in my storage. I may try it in 2 weeks to compare it with excellent Brimar.

I am also happy with Amperex Sn7

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PAIR-OF-6SN7GTB-AMPEREX-TUBES-NEW-6SN7-NOS-NIB-Vacuum-Tubes-Bugle-Boy/26392...

although I have Sylvania Bad Boys which I may try in a month or so.


Thomas

geek101

Although you didn't ask about the 518IA , for what it is worth in my 518IA I swapped out all of the tubes except the 845s and went with NOS Tung Sol 5751s (prefer the slightly lower gain vs using NOS 12ax7s in this amp) ,  RCA 5AR4 rectifier, and  GE 6L6GCs

@migueca

Your favorites are out of my budget, but I’ve been looking at the 88AI and wonder what the differences between 88AI and 34AI are. I can use KT88 in both, so what makes the 88AI a better choice if I wanna use KT88 tubes? The 34AI seems to be a better choice if I wanna tune the sound by tube rolling due to the many types of tubes I can use. But maybe there are only a few of the choices that really are interesting?

Do you know the brand of the stock tubes in 34IA?

I have a 216i and have changed out the LM tubes with Genelex Gold Lion reissue. Also for the preamp tubes I have found NOS military made USA General Electric and Sylvania tubes sound fantastic.

Simna,
Years ago, all Line Magnetic amplifiers were equipped with tubes from Shuguang and although these tubes were cheap and not the best thing in the market, the truth is they sounded really good right out of the box. Usually the advice was (and still is) to replace the input stage tubes first, because these are the ones that impact the most of the sound. 
I only replaced the small 12AU7 and 12AX7 for Gold Lions and the improvement was noticeable.
Nowadays I don't know if they still carry the Shuguangs from factory or if they use other brands. 

As as for the difference between those two amplifiers - 34 and 88 - I'm afraid I don't know. They belong to the new breed of amplifiers that I haven't experienced yet.  

OMG I have owned Lamm ML2.1, M1.1, M2.1, Music reference RM200/RM9, CJ and ARC tube amps.. the Line Magnetic  518IA i bought is amazing!!! built quality is crazy good, zero hum, and I'm still running stock tubes on my 37k speakers.  I am considering upgrading to the latest 30watt SET 2 chassis amp as my Rockports are pretty hard to drive.   The quality of the LM or Auralic are just amazing.. Huge value!

I’ll take my chances and buy the LM34IA and hope that new tubes, (gonna replace them all; EL34, ECC82 and ECC83) helps. If this don’t do the trick I’ll try other capacitors or... something else...😀

That looks like a great amp. I would be very surprised if you don’t really, really like it. Mine just got better with time. Replaced output tubes with Genelax Gold Lion KT88 and preamp tubes with NOS Sylvania and GE tubes. Best sound I have had..

Simna. That is gonna sound sweet.
lets us know how you like the amp and tubes. As stated, the step up in going from LM tubes to NOS, Mullard, Genelex, Tung-Sol etc is a huge payoff in SQ.

@Simna
Did you ever get the new tubes up and running? Any thoughts?

@bjesien 

Yes, I did. But one or more of the Tung-Sol EL34Bs are faulty, so I have to send them back. The Genalex Gold Lion ECC82s and the ECC83 works fine, but they haven't done more than 50 hours so they will change in sound. But I think the sound is a little veiled. I want a more open sound. Maybe it will change when the ECC82s and the ECC83 gets more hours. Or maybe when I get the new set of Tung-Sol EL34Bs. Or maybe some of the other ECC82s and ECC83s I also bought will do the trick.

Simna 
Very interested in your views on this combination of amp and model power tube once you have 100 hrs on them. 

Looking at this LM model or a s/h CJ premier 11A atm

Yes do let us know your impressions of this amp and the tube rolling results. Overall and compared to other brands, not too much written on the Line Magnetic Audio products, therefore user experiences like yours and mine (long ago I wrote about the 216i) are important to potential buyers.

I bought the Line Magnetic 805ia after having extended listening sessions and at home demo sessions with Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP, McIntosh 5200, Hegel 360 and Naim XS2. It just had a quality that I couldn't put a finger on but I enjoyed the sound coming out of it a lot more than the others. I haven't looked back since. 

Responds very well to tube rolling as well. I have changed out the preamp tubes with great effect each time - replacing with NOS tubes. I'll be experimenting with changing out the 805 and 300Bs shortly to see if there is a positive effect there. 

This amp has surprised dealers as well. I brought my amp (painstakingly at 90lbs) to the shops to audition a few speakers and on both occasions, the owners had remarked at how good the amp sounded. Both asked who the dealer of Line Magnetic was because they were interested in seeing if they could demo their product in their own shops. 

@willmacc and 2psyop

I’ve changed almost everything in my set up (speakers, interconnects, DAC and amp) so it’s kind of hard to say what does what.

What I can say is that LM34IA gives you very much for the money. I think it sounds almost as good as my old Tube Technology Unisis Signature (but this is a EL84 amp and I miss the EL84 sound that is a little faster and more glimmering treble). 
Unfortunately there is a problem with one of the LM:s power sockets that doesn’t grip the pins tightly enought. But if I don’t touch the tube it’s OK. I’ve talked to the dealer so I will get it fixed.
But I hate the fragile glossy surface. Urrrgh.

The tubes I have installed right now are Tung-Sol EL34B, Mullard ECC82 (NOS) and Electro Harmonix ECC83.
I’ve also tried Gold Lion ECC82:s and ECC83, but it sounded a kind of sterile. Maybe they need more than 100 hours to bloom.
I really like what I hear. Big and deep soundstage, nice treble, sweet mids and warm bass. I have some problems with the bass in my room, so it’s hard to tell how good/bad the bass really is.

I’d like to add something here. I bought an early model Line Magnetic Audio 216ia as I had mentioned earlier in the thread. I auditioned the piece at a dealer many years back when he first started carrying the line. We listened to Leben and Audio Research and Line Magnetic audio. I had agreed with my dealer that the 216ia (I ended up buying) sounded right to both of us. My dealer was excited about the brand because he liked the sound, he liked the price point he could offer the line and he told me LM Audio completely agreed to back up the line and fix ANY issues with a customer. Even though they are a Chinese company and as such I thought I would be taking a risk, I bought the amp anyway. I really enjoyed this amp for many listening sessions! Fast forward 3 years and the amp had a problem. It was a power issue and when I brought it back to the dealer he told me he thought it was a transformer and he would send the amp back to an authorized repair center. So he loaned me a very nice LM Audio SET amp and when my amp came back I just paid for one way shipping. I was very pleased because it was fixed just fine and LM Audio honored their promise.

@migueca  Are Line Magnetic amps made in a government factory like Cayin or do they have an independent workshop?

Tone Imports/Johnathan Halpern have high character, which makes alot of difference. Have you played with speaker positioning and output taps? Each amp acts differently and your speakers may need to come away from the wall some more to mitigate what you describe a a veil. If you have only used the 8 ohm taps, the 4 ohms should tighten it up. Also, by its very nature, an EL34 tube will be more bloomy typically than an EL84. Also consider that 50 hours doesn't quite cut it in many cases. If your speakers are bi-wire capable, you might consider plugging your cables into the other set of inputs. Even if they have jumpers. Good luck.

Chinese garbage.