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Linn CD12 MK3

A friend of mine who is a long time Linn's user told me about Linn CD12 mkIII. He previously used Linn CD12 mk1, mk2. Also,he has Linn LP12SE full stack and Klimax DSM in his system. He had purchased this USED Linn CD12 MK3 for $18000. To my knowledge, Linn CD12 CDP mk1(20bit) and mk2(24bit) serial number are of 3digits. But this so called Linn CD12 MK3 had 6 digits serial number. He said this CD12 MK3 is very rare and Limited. My friend has A/B comparison many Linn sources in his own system. And what he said is CD12 mk2 better than mk1. But the 6digits serial number CD12 MK3 is a true Linn masterpiece. It easily beat mk2 in every aspect. He had compared to Linn LP12SE full stack, and the new Klimax DSM and he even prefered Linn CD12 MK3. He told it preserved the Linn's maximum musical magic of LP12SE full stack plus more dynamic extreme, more details yet very musical.
My question is who ever had experience in Linn CD12 6digits serial number MK3? I have never seen this version before. Where can I get one?
samie
audiooracle
387 posts
 

Personally I wouldn't be purchasing a rare, limited CD player from a company that no longer makes them.

The future is a high resolution DAC and you either stream to it or directly hook up a computer.

The Linn streamers are good but there are way better sounding ones out there.

A good DAC/computer setup can rival really good vinyl playback especially with HD tracks high resolution down loads.

I am turning my entire CD collection into a 2tb hard drive to use with my DAC once you have experienced the ease of use of using a touch panel to surf your music collection and the rapid switching of music which computers allow you will never go back to using optical discs again.
brf
1,715 posts
 
Try posting your question on the Linn forum, you will have a better chance of getting your answer.
samie OP
3 posts
 
Thank you you guys for helpful responses.

Audiooracle,
Would you mind suggest DAC that rival vinly in musical mid rangearea? I have tried seperate transport+DAC from Esoteric, DCS, etc. Even I got amazing sound stage, excellent PRAT, I always miss musical midrange from vinly. That's why I pay attention on the Linn CD12 limited MK3 (with 6 digits serial number). If this limited CD12 mk3 is too difficult to find, I'll give a try on others instead. Have you ever auditioned separate transport+dac from CH precision C1/D1 and MBL stack? Can their mids compare to vinly playback?
mjcmt's avatar
mjcmt
710 posts
 
Sorry Samie that you didn't get the response you were looking for. I imagine it is quite a nice piece. Linn does have a musical and analogue way about their digital sources.
Besides the Linn forums the folks at 'Audio Asylum are a knowledgeable bunch, as well as 'The Art of Sound' from the UK who favor gear from their side of the pond.
larryi
3,982 posts
 
I did not even know that a Mk3 exists. I do like the CD12 and I expect that Linn will be able to support it even if they no longer make a cd player.

I happen to like the convenience of a music server myself, even though it was a big deal of work ripping my 3700 cds to the server and correcting the metadata (particularly difficult with classical cds). My collection is so much more accessible and I like browsing on an ipad and putting together an evening's worth of music on a play list.

I use the server even though I think it really does not sound quite as good as my CD player. I happen to like the sound of the particular player I have and it better matches my LP source so that the system sounds similar playing both. I make no generalizations as to which is inherently better--I am merely pointing out that a good CD player can be very good in absolute terms and a computer or dedicated server is not necessarily better.
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